


Midnight Cinderella High School

by ArriettyCrawford



Category: Midnight Cinderella (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-05-21 17:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14919852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArriettyCrawford/pseuds/ArriettyCrawford
Summary: Midnight Cinderella now has a discord, all princesses are welcome! https://discord.gg/yCfvTaAHigh School is different for everyone, but one way or another there will be drama. Arrietty has managed to avoid this inevitable fate for two years. Now she’s moved into the same apartment building as her schools most popular guys and discovers she can no longer hide in the background.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic and I hope you all like it. Any feedback would be great! The idea came from my experiences in my first year of college and past years in high school.

Has your school ever done something so stupid you can help but think, _‘How did they possibly come up with reasons that justify this?’_

Like giving every kid their own laptop, replacing chairs with exercise balls, or having the students live alone in the same apartment complex. You heard me, living in the SAME apartment complex. One of five to be exact.

And all Arrietty was thinking when she heard the news was, _‘if I wanted to live with these damn kids I would have gone to an actual boarding school’._

Arrietty, straight A student with perfect attendance. She didn’t care much for socializing and counted the days until she could leave for college. Arrietty also had a bad habit of getting even and a book of comebacks to go with it.

The living arrangements are new to the upper classmen this year, and Arrietty spent the entire summer cursing her luck. They couldn’t have wait two more years, it had to be during her junior year that the introduced this new form of hell. Awesome.

Of course, it wasn’t mandatory. But expenses were paid by the school and a small scholarship was given to every kid who accepted. Students were chosen by the school, they could decline but it’s doubtful anyone would. Students were chosen for everything from academics, to athletics, to social skills. Which is how Arrietty ended up in a building full of sports jocks and people in more clubs than she cared to count.

Unfortunately, the complexes aren’t split by gender, or even the floors for that matter. Each floor has five apartments. When it came time to choose apartments Arrietty and her two friends, Amy and Christina, waited until the last moment which left only three spots to pick from. In the end Arrietty decided her friends should be on the same floor, which put them on the top floor of the complex. Her apartment was on the floor below them and there’s one more floor below that.

So, who did she end up with as neighbors? To her bitter regret, a group of junior boys who seem to always be in the heart of the high school social scene.

The door to her apartment is at the end of the hall way, across from it is Leo Crawford. You could make a solid argument for him being the most popular guy in school. Something that’s nonnegotiable though is that he’s a playboy flirt and has the looks to match. He’s the junior classes president and plays on the school soccer and baseball teams.

Next door to him is his twin brother Alyn Crawford. He’s kind of gruff on the outside, but a softie at heart. He never has a real smile on his face accept when he’s with his pet dog Arthur. He walks around with an infuriating smirk that someone needs to wipe off his face. He also happens to be the captain for the soccer and baseball team.

Across from Alyn and next door to Arrietty is Louis Howard. The least social of all her new neighbors, everyone at school calls him an ice sculpture. But like the others he has quite the following of fan girls, not surprising seeing as he’s perfect at almost everything he does. Some of his admirers seem to think he’s just a big softie like Alyn.

In the apartment next to Alyn is Nico Meier. He’s like a ball of never ending energy and smiles. He plays baseball and soccer with the twins and getting into mischief seems to be his favorite pastime. Across from his apartment is the door to the stairwell.

Summer was just ending, and school started tomorrow. Today was they day Arrietty and her friends decided move into the apartments. As true high school students they chose to wait until the very last moment to get settled.

Arrietty was driving to her home for the next school year with Amy and Christina who were following her in Amy’s car. Fortunately, her birthday was late in the year making her just old enough to have a license. The age requirement was only 16 and 6 months and Arrietty turned 17 in December, so she got her license just before school started. Amy had failed a grade back in kindergarten, so she was also old enough to have a license.

They pulled into the parking lot behind the old stone apartment building and parked in their corresponding spots. Despite it’s older looking outward appearance, the inside of the complex was modern and up to date in technologies.

“And the nightmare begins.”

“Aw, come on! It won’t be that bad, after all we’re going to be living in the same building with hotties around every corner.” Amy moved to stand next to Arrietty and put a hand on her shoulder as she peered up at the building.

“Have I mentioned how stupid I think this whole thing is?”

“Only about a million times,” she replied with a way to cheerful smile.

“Whatever, only grab a small bag first so we can find our apartments without you two collapsing on the stairs.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Christina emerged from behind the cars to join her and Amy with Amy’s bag in hand. She handed over the bag and they entered the buildings side stairs, using their keycards to open the door. When they reached Arrietty’s floor she waved them off as they headed up to find their rooms.

Arrietty walked down to the end of the hallway and found her apartment. _‘Hopefully I’ll avoid running into any of my new neighbors.’_ She wasn’t super keen on becoming friends with any of them. She just wanted to focus on her schoolwork and play her games. Alone. _‘In fact, If I leave early and get home quickly I can avoid them and any possible socializing.’_

With that resolve in mind she unzipped her jacket pocket and pulled out the room key. Instead of carrying a purse like most girls would Arrietty wore leather jackets and zipped all her important items in her pockets.

She stepped into her apartment and decided to look around. Every apartment had a kitchen that was attached to a small dinning area, a living room, a bathroom, and a bed room. There was also a small walk in closet with a washer and dryer. The general color scheme was bland with no real color which left room for students to personalize their new homes.

After a few more trips to her car and then another trip to help Amy and Christina get all their bags, everything was in the apartments and Arrietty started unpacking. Once she felt confident she had everything necessary in place she changed into pajamas and started up her computer. These games weren’t going to play themselves and a raid was calling her name.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, the boys were gathered in Nico’s apartment.

“Why are you just sitting there reading Leo? It’s the last day of summer, you should be enjoying it.” Nico whined from his position on the couch. Next to him Alyn was intently focused on his game of guitar hero against Sid.

“Unlike you I actually enjoy a good book. Besides, I won’t have as much time to read once practices start.” Leo replied from his seat at Nico’s table, not taking his eyes off his book.

“There’s more to life than video games Nico,” Louis, who was sitting across from Leo, stated in a flat, uninterested tone.

“Don’t be such a wet blanket Louis,” said Sid who was currently seated on the floor in front of the couch, eyes still focused on the screen as he tried, in vain, to beat Alyn.

Louis just gave a small huff and Leo shot him a sympathetic look from across the table. Just then Sid let out an annoyed groan as Alyn continued to go undefeated.

“You need some ice after that major burn Sid?” Nico snickered as he took Sid’s spot to play Alyn next.

“Whatever half-pint, I was getting bored with that game anyway,” Sid muttered as he got up off the floor and made his way to the refrigerator. He pulled out a drink and then joined Leo and Louis at the table. “So, you guys meet your new roommate yet?”

“I haven’t seen anyone yet but there was a car parked in that spot this afternoon.” A smile found its way onto Nico’s face as he spoke, “Maybe it’s a girl.”

“Oi, pay attention to the game,” Alyn finally spoke up as Nico missed a bunch of notes in his temporary lapse of focus.

Suddenly Nico’s smile turned mischievous as he turned to face Leo. “I bet Alyn would like it if our new neighbor was a girl.”

Alyn snapped his head over to Nico eyes wide, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. “Hey, what are you-”

Leo sent a smirk back at Nico and then cut Alyn off, “I think you’re right Nico. What do you say little brother, finally going to get yourself a girlfriend?”

Alyn’s face was now a deep shade a of red and he quickly turned his head away. “Don’t be an idiot,” he said as he attempted to focus on the game again.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind,” Sid said as Leo set down his book, marking the page so he could finish reading later.

“Although that car may belong to one of the girls on the top floor. Byron told me that both of their new neighbors moved in this morning.” Sid took a sip of his drink before continuing, “I think one of them is that shy brunette in the orchestra, the other is probably her friend who’s always attached to her hip.”

“I believe their names are Christina and Amy,” Louis supplied as he moved to stand up. “I’ll be heading back now, it’s getting late. You all should do the same.”

“Always the kill joy, aren’t ya Louis?” Sid sighed, even though he to got up and started heading for the door behind him.

“See you guys tomorrow,” Leo out called as the door shut. He stayed and watched Alyn and Nico play a few more games before they all decided to turn in as well.


	2. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of school is always the hardest. But it becomes even harder when the baseball team's star pitcher crosses the line. The only question now is what will Arrietty do about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much of the Midnight Cinderella characters in this chapter but I wanted to set up "bad guys" first. There will be a lot more of the princes in the next chapter.

Highschool is the ultimate example of chaos, tragedy, and trouble. Your older friends tell you stories about ridiculous teachers and even more ridiculous stunts they pulled. They’ll tell you about how much fun socializing in the cafeteria and during free period was. How great all the school dances were.

What they don’t tell you is how hard their lives after high school became. They waste all their time worrying about their image and who they hang out with. Then they get to college and their life becomes a struggle between work and studies for a major they can’t decide. They go into debt and spend the five years after college trying to pay it off.

So how do you avoid this tragic outcome? You work hard, take AP classes, and stay focused because you only need that 60% on an AP test to get your college credit. That was how Arrietty saw things and she was determined to leave high school with a full ride to college.

With that goal in mind Arrietty was getting ready for the first day of school. She had set her alarm to wake her up extra early so she could get a shower and be out the door before her neighbors would. She was wearing her normal outfit of black tennis shoes, black skinny jeans, a burgundy short sleeve shirt, and her leather jacket. She put her books and lunch into her messenger bag, then slung it over her shoulder as she turned to leave the apartment.

She opened her door quietly and did a quick check to make sure no one was in the hall way. ‘No need for me to waste time meeting people.’ Once she was sure it was clear she moved out into the hallway and locked the door behind her. She slipped her key into her jacket pocket before zipping it closed and heading to the stairs.

Arrietty pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Amy, telling her that she would be there in a minute. She got to the top floor and walked up to Amy’s door, knocking once. There was some shuffling noises behind the door and then it swung open to reveal a still in pajamas Amy.

“I see you’re ready to go.” Arrietty said as she looked over Amy’s candy themed pants and frog slippers.

“You know most teenagers like to sleep in. Besides, I’m still trying to pick out the perfect outfit.” Amy said as she turned and disappeared down the hallway, back into her room. Arrietty moved from the door into the kitchen just as Amy yelled from the bedroom. “There’s cereal in the kitchen, I know you haven’t eaten yet.”

“You know me to well.” Arrietty pulled out three bowls and poured cereal into all of them. “I doubt anyone is going to be looking at your outfit. They’ll be far too busy one upping each other’s vacation stories and copying summer work.” She moved to the fridge and took out the milk, pouring it only into her bowl before putting it back.

“It’s important to make a good first impression, my friend told me that this is the summer boys grow into men.” Amy called from her place in the other room. Arrietty rolled her eyes, unseen by Amy, and continued eating her breakfast.

“You actually have to talk to a guy if you want a boyfriend. Last I checked that wasn’t really you or Christina’s forte.” Then as if saying her named had summoned her there was a knock at the door. “Speak of the devil,” Arrietty said as she sat up and moved to open the door. As soon as she did she was met by a pile of clothing and a clearly upset Christina.

“Morning sunshine, first day of school outfit not coming to you either?” Arrietty asked as she carefully took the pile of clothing from her friend.

“I don’t know what to wear! What if I wear the wrong thing and everyone laughs at me?! What if I wear a sweater and it gets caught on a railing and then I fall down the steps and then I break my leg and then-.“ Christina had walked past the door and was now pacing around the kitchen when Arrietty cut her off.

“Woah, woah, woah. Relax their sunshine, one ridiculous concern at a time please.” She pulled the door shut with her foot and took the mountain of clothing into Amy’s room while Christina followed. “First of all, you should just not wear a sweater. Second of all, you should ask Amy cause I have no idea what to tell you.” With that Arrietty turned and went back to her breakfast while her friends got ready.

About thirty minutes later everyone was finally dressed. Amy and Christina were finishing their cereal and fruit breakfast. Once they were done and the dishes were clean the girls left the building together, deciding to walk to school. By foot the school was about fifteen minutes away and parking just wasn’t worth the hassle when the weather was so nice.

Finally, Arrietty found herself at school with a solid hour before class started. She spent the time helping her friends find all their class rooms before going off to find her own while they caught up with friends. As Arrietty located her classes and the best way to get between them she saw a few students standing around. She did her best not to draw attention to herself as she navigated her way back towards homeroom.

Before she made it she saw a few members of the boys’ soccer team hanging around outside the gym. In the center of them was Alyn Crawford, the team captain. Arrietty pulled out a textbook and pretended to read as she walked by, her usual go to when she didn’t want to be noticed. What she wasn’t expecting though was to be stopped by one of the boys. She was almost past them when a kid she recognized from English class last year called out to her.

“Hey wait!” The boy ran up to her as she closed her book and turned to face him, mildly annoyed at the interruption. “Did you have Hamlet for your summer reading? I didn’t do the assignment.”

‘Oh, that’s all he wants. I can deal with that.’ Unfortunately for the boy she finally remembered as Ryan, she had read Romeo and Juliet, but she could still help.

“Sorry Ryan, but if you need a topic for the essay do Hamlet as an Anti-Hero. Just Google Anti-heroes and I’m sure you’ll find a character you know that you can compare him to. Perhaps from a comic book or movie?”

“Oh thanks, you’re the best.” With that parting Ryan took off back towards his friends, probably getting ready to write his assignment before class. ‘Bet he didn’t even remember my name.’ Not that it really mattered, if he didn’t know her name that just meant he was less likely to talk to her for reasons other than school. With that taken care of Arrietty turned and started to head towards her class, unaware of the pair of eyes that had been watching her.

Once she rounded the corner and was out of sight, Alyn turned to his teammate. “Oi, is she new? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before.”

Ryan quickly shook his head. “No, she was in my English class last year. I had to sit next to her when the teacher moved me to the front.” He reached down to pick up his bag before continuing. “She’s a real nerd though, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her outside of class before today.” He shrugged slightly before heading in the direction of the library to write his paper. Alyn watched him go before forgetting about the topic and returning his attention to Nico, who was going on about his summer trip.

With about thirty minutes until class started Arrietty made her way into homeroom and took the seat in the back, by the window. She would prefer to sit by the door in the front so she could get out first but that would mean having everyone walk by as they came in. Instead she would take her time when leaving class, waiting until the other students filed out first.

Her first classes went by in a blur and before she knew it the bell was ringing for lunch. Arrietty packed up her things and waited for most of the students to leave before she went to where she was meeting Amy and Christina. To her surprise her friends wanted to eat in the cafeteria today instead of the music room like they did last year. Apparently, a boy had asked Amy to meet him at lunch which is how Arrietty found herself standing against the wall with Christina as Amy went to talk to the boy.

“It’s so loud in here.” Christina said from beside her.

“Yeah, but I’m more concerned about Amy. It’s been like ten minutes and I still haven’t seen her.” Arrietty scanned the room attempting to locate her friend. She finally spotted her leaving the cafeteria with a boy in a baseball shirt. What concerned her though was the group of boys following them. Suddenly she had a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Hey Christina, go sit over there with Willow for a bit. I need to go check on something.” Christina nodded and went to do just that as Arrietty made her way towards the door she had seen Amy go through.

As she got through the door she heard voices coming from farther down the hallway and quickly followed them. She rounded the corner just in time to see the group of boys that had been following Amy pour blue Gatorade on her from behind. The boy who she had been talking to and was clearly distracting her had taken a step back to avoid the liquid.

“Sorry but I don’t go for flat chested blonde sluts.” With that he high-fived his teammates and they all ran off past Arrietty, back towards the cafeteria. She recognized those boys, the one who had spoken was Evan. He was the baseball teams star pitcher and held the school record for fastest pitch. ‘We’ll see how he likes it when HIS dreams are crushed.’ Right now wasn’t the time to be plotting revenge though. Arrietty rushed to Amy’s side, trying to calm her down and ushering her towards the nurse’s office.

“Hang on blondie, it’s going to be okay. We’ll get some spare clothes from the nurse.” By now Amy was already hysterically crying and Arrietty could barely understand what she was trying to say. The words ‘first day’ and ‘outfit’ stood out though and she immediately knew what Amy was upset about.

“Hey, no worries. You can wear my clothes and I’ll wear the spares. We’re about the same size anyway. Although, you can’t have my jacket.” That earned a small laugh from Amy as they continued walking.

By the time they got to the nurse Amy had gone from hysterics to quiet sobbing and Arrietty sent Christina a quick text telling her where they were. The nurse gave them spare clothes and the two friends swapped outfits. By the time they were done Christina arrived and had started helping Amy fix her makeup. Once Amy had pulled herself together the friends went off to class.

It was only the first day so nothing important was happening, which was good because Arrietty wasn’t focused at all on the teacher. Instead she was thinking of a way to get back at Evan for what he did to Amy. It would have to be subtle, the boys were too strong and popular for an upfront confrontation.

Suddenly an idea came to her and unbeknownst everyone in the room a wicked smile founds its way onto her face. She sent Amy and Christina a text telling them to meet her outside the gym after school.

At last the end of the day rolled around and Arrietty was walking up two her future partners in crime.

“What are we doing here?” Christina asked when she saw Arrietty approach.

“Getting revenge on Mr. Baseball Superstar. Fortunately, there are no practices on the first day of school. The teams are all in their coach’s class rooms watching safety videos.” Arrietty said as she walked past them into the gym, heading directly towards one of the side rooms.

“And we are going to get revenge on him by…?” Amy asked as she followed her friend.

“Were going to crush the one thing he cares about most, his school record. Oh good, the door is unlocked. Christina wait out here and text us if someone comes in.”

With that Arrietty walked into the baseball room. The room had a pitching area with a machine that recorded the speed of your pitch. This is where Evan’s pitching record was held which was currently 83 mph.

Arrietty picked up a ball and moved to the pitcher’s mound.

“Wait, you’re going to break his record?!” Amy said in shock as she watched her friend.

“Yeah, I need you to go over and operate the machine. You need someone controlling it or it won’t record. It’s a safety measure built in to keep players from coming in alone and cheating.” With that Amy moved over to the controls and turned on the device.

“We’re going to have to come back more than once. Today I’m only going to beat his record by 7 mph, next week we’ll come back and do another 7 mph. That way they don’t think it’s one-time cheat.”

“Wait, why seven? Won’t that be kinda obvious”

“Cause that’s my favorite number, I doubt they’ll notice anyway. Plus, it makes it more fun for me.” Arrietty took off her jacket a got into position. “The machine takes the average of three pitches, get ready.” With that Arrietty threw the first ball. To Amy’s surprise after all three throws Arrietty had actually managed to average 7 mph higher than the school record.

“It’s asking for a name.”

“A name huh, make it Yeti.” Arrietty said, a smirk working its way onto her face as she walked over to her friend. Amy just rolled her eyes and soon the two girls were exiting the room. The only evidence that they had been there was the new school record of 90 mph held by Yeti.


	3. After School Revelations

"So why Yeti?" Christina asked after being filled in on the afternoons events. The girls were walking through the gym, Christina was on Arrietty’s left.

"It's the name on my coffee mug, it was the first thing I thought of." Said Arrietty as the girls make their way out of the gym. She reached into her bag and pulled out the mug to show Christina.

"You have a coffee addiction. That'll give you acne you know." Amy said, looking across Arrietty from her right side to glare at the mug in her travel bag.

"That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." The girls walked up to the gym door and Arrietty reached out to push it open. But before she could it swung open from the other side. The girls looked up with a start, only to find Byron Wagner holding the door open and blocking their way.

Byron was the senior classes Vice President and captain of the football team. He was always well composed and his face showed no emotion, which lead his overall presence to be quite intimidating.

Byron looked surprised at first then narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing in here?" His tone was sharp, making Amy and Christina shrink back a little.

"Sorry, we were hoping to see the boys soccer practice." Arrietty lied easily, sending Byron the most innocent smile she could manage.

"Practices are closed, you shouldn't be in here." Byron continued to stare at the girls as another figure appeared behind him.

"The gym is off limits to students who aren’t on a team after school." Albert Burckhardt peered at the girls over Byron’s shoulder. He reached up to adjust his glasses before continuing. "I suggest you leave immediately."

"Your absolutely right. We'll leave right away." With that Arrietty reached out and grabbed her friend’s wrists, pulling them with her out of the gym.

Byron and Albert exchanged a glance as they watched them go. Once the girls rounded the corner Albert spoke. “Surely they have something better to do with their time than ogle at boys”

“Hn.” Byron made a small sound of agreement in the back of this throat. The pair exchanged a glance before entering the gym together.

"Hey guys!" A voice stopped Arrietty before she made it out the door with Amy and Christina in tow. The group turned to see a girl with short black hair running towards them.

"Hey Crow, what’s up?" Kristina Crow, a senior who Arrietty made friends with last year. They had been in the same English class due to Arrietty being put a year ahead. Since Arrietty thought Christina and Kristina would be too confusing, she started calling Kristina by her last name. It caught on and now everyone called her Crow.

"Do you have Mr. Sannes for English this year?" She walked up and gave a quick wave to Amy and Christina. The two waved back before saying they were going to head home and walked away.

"Yeah, I have her second period tomorrow." Arrietty pulled out her schedule to show Crow.

"You're also in advanced art for fourth period? I have that class to!"

“Cool, we can sit together then. I don’t know how I’d get through a class full of seniors without you.” Arrietty and crow shared a smile and then turned to leave together.

“I’m guessing you left early this morning?” Crow said suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, that’s kind of my normal routine. Although I did drag Amy and Christina with me since they wanted to find their classrooms.”

“Thought so, well I guess that’s why I didn’t see you. Here I was all ready to surprise you to.”

Arrietty looked at Crow with an eyebrow raised. “Surprise?”

Crow nodded, a smile appearing on her face. “Guess who moved into the apartment next to yours!?”

“Really, that’s awesome.”

“Not for me.” Crow pouted, puffing out her cheeks slightly. “I heard Byron Wagner is staying in your apartment. What I wouldn’t give to be his neighbor.”

“You know what? I just ran into your future husband not that long ago.”

“What?! Where?” Crow stopped walking and turned to Arrietty in surprise.

“I saw him when I was coming out of the gym.”

“What were you doing in the gym?”

“Wellllll.” Arrietty looked away briefly before starting to walk again, Crow following next to her. She then gave a summary of the day’s events, including the end of Evan’s school record.

“That jerk, next time I see him I’m going to kick him where it hurts.” Crow was glaring as if he was right in front of her.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already hit him where it hurts.” The look on Arrietty’s face screamed satisfaction. The girls were now standing at the door to Crow’s apartment.

“See this is why you’re my soulmate.” Crow gave a small laugh before she started to walk into her building. “See you later!”

“Later!” Arrietty called back before heading to her own apartment building.

 

* * *

 

After watching safety videos with the team Alyn and Nico had gone to the gym to test all the equipment. At the start of every year the team captain was responsible for making sure all their teams equipment was working and accounted for. Since Alyn was captain for two teams Nico had volunteered to make sure all the soccer balls were inflated while Alyn went to the baseball team’s room.

Alyn entered the room and began to check the baseballs and bats. After making sure they were all accounted for and in good condition he checked the batting area. He made sure everything was set up for the players and finally moved to the pitching area. He turned on the machine and began to set it up for use.

“What?! How did this get here?” Alyn couldn’t contain his shock as he looked at the rankings recorded on the machine.

“Alyn? What happened?” Nico walked in with I confused expression, having heard Alyn yell from the room next door.

“I think someone was tampering with the machine. Evan’s record was broken.” Alyn’s brow furrowed as he frowned at the machine.

“What do you mean tampering? Who beat the record?!” Nico asked, his surprise matching Alyn’s from before.

“Whoever it was put in the name Yeti. It must have been a prank.”

“Even if it was a prank it’s not like you can really cheat the machine. It must have been someone on either our team or the girls. We can tell the coaches to ask everyone who was on last years team. If it was a freshman, we’ll just have to wait until spring.” Nico gave a nonchalant shrug.

“It’s the first day of school, the only time someone could have done this was while we were in the meeting. So, we can probably rule out anyone who plays on a fall team.” Alyn said as he gazed thoughtfully at the ranking list.

“I think Byron and Albert are in the football room. Maybe they saw someone?” Nico turned to leave and Alyn followed him out, locking the door behind them. They walked down the hall to the football team’s room and stepped inside.

“What do you want pest?” Albert was the first to notice their arrival and immediately scowled when he saw Nico.

“Aww, you’re so mean Al. Maybe I just wanted to see you.” Nico had one of his overly perky smiles on his face as he tried to a get a rise out of Albert.

“Well I don’t want to see you brat.” Albert glared at Nico but turned when Byron put a hand on his shoulder.

“What do you need?” Byron asked, moving his gaze from Nico to Alyn.

Alyn scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Did you guys see anyone in the baseball team’s room today? We think someone from the team was using the pitchers machine, but we don’t know who.”

“We haven’t seen anyone from your team.” Albert fixed his gaze on Alyn, completely ignoring Nico now.

“Alright then, thanks.” With that Alyn turned to leave but stopped when Byron spoke up.

“There were some girls leaving the gym when we came in. They said they were hoping to watch your team practice.”

Alyn frowned and Nico spoke up. “Maybe they were from the girl’s baseball team?”

Byron shook his head, “I didn’t recognize them, though they could have been freshmen.”

“A freshman wouldn’t have known where the room was.” Alyn sighed and waved over his shoulder as he walked out the door. “Thanks anyway.”

“See you guys back at the apartment.” Nico waved to the two upper classmen before following Alyn out the door and back to the baseball room. The boys were absorbed in their own thoughts as they made their way past the stairs leading out of the gym.

“What’s with the serious faces?” A voice called from the top of the stairwell. Alyn and Nico looked up to see none other than Alyn’s twin brother sauntering his way down the stairs towards them. Alyn just scoffed and continued walking while Nico turned to address Leo.

“We’ve got a bit of a problem.” With that said Nico began to fill Leo in on what had happened as the two followed after Alyn.

“Hmm, a mystery pitcher huh?” Leo was leaning against the wall in the baseball room while Alyn continued to check the equipment.

Nico was sitting on the chair in front of the pitcher machine. “Yeah, and they beat Evan’s record! He’s going to be so mad when he finds out.”

“It might have been him, no one else in the school has come close to his record.” Alyn said as he moved a box from the floor onto a shelf.

“I don’t think so, he wouldn’t leave a fake name. He cares too much about his reputation to let a chance like this slide.” Leo had a thoughtful look on his face as he considered the situation.

Alyn scoffed at his brothers comment. “Well then, who do you think it was?”

“I don’t know. Maybe someone cheated and didn’t want to leave their name?”

“Why bother cheating if you’re not going to take the credit?” Alyn snapped back, his annoyance with the situation was only heightened by Leo’s presence.

“Well they probably realized that no one would believe they beat Evan. We would know they had cheated when they pitch during tryouts.” Leo’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Were there any other new scores? Maybe they got a slightly lower score and kept that instead.” Leo walked over to Nico and looked over the rankings with a critical eye.

“I don’t think so, these all look the same as I remember them being last year.” Nico looked up at Leo a slight frown on his face. Leo was staring at the machine when suddenly his mouth began to curl up into a smirk.

“Well then, I think we should spread the news that were looking for this mystery pitcher.” Leo said, leaning back with a smug look on his face.

“Why would they just come out and admit they cheated?” Alyn stopped his investigation of the pitcher area to glare at Leo.

The right side of Leo’s mouth curled up slightly. “Because we’re going to offer the position of pitcher on the team to whoever can prove they’re our mystery man.”

“You want to put someone who cheated their way through the tryouts into a key position?” Alyn said, clearly not amused with his brother’s idea.

“If they cheated then we kick them off the team for dishonesty and if they’re the real deal then you get a new star pitcher. Seems like a win for you either way.” Leo shrugged and pulled out his phone.

“Alright fine, as long as this doesn’t get out of hand.” Alyn grumbled as he went back to what he was doing.”

“Think you can help me spread the news Nico? This needs to be the talk of the school by tomorrow.” Leo said as he began texting everyone he could about the rumor.

“You got it.” Nico stood up and left the room, phone in hand.


	4. The Second "First Day"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day of school leads to more trouble and schemes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support! My current plan is to post a minimum of one chapter a week, I hope you enjoy!

The next day Arrietty had gone through her normal morning routine. She got to school early, only this time without Amy or Christina. With about an hour to spare she arrived at her B day homeroom and took the seat in the back corner farthest from the door. Since her high school was divided into A day and B day today would be like a second, first day of school.

She spent her time reading until about fifteen minutes before class started when kids began entering the room. Only today something was different. Instead of coming in and sitting near their friends her classmates were gathered in the middle of the room talking about something. Arrietty kept her book open while she listened in on what her classmates were talking about.

“Who do you think it was?”

“It had to be one of the senior players.”

“No way, I heard it was a freshman trying to show off.”

“Well Evan totally freaked out when he saw it. I heard that he went to the coach and demanded the pitcher not be allowed on the team.”

Arrietty couldn’t help but have smug grin as she listened to the students gossip. She was surprised that the news had spread so quickly, ridiculous rumors were already being told.

Suddenly the room grew louder and Arrietty looked up to see her classmates move to the door. Through the crowd she saw the baseball teams captain Alyn Crawford and his teammate Nico Meier. The students immediately began to pester them with questions and Arrietty had to hold back a laugh at Alyn’s clearly agitated expression. Eventually Nico got the students to stop talking long enough so he could say something.

“We’re still looking for the mystery pitcher who broke the school record. If someone can prove it was them they’ll be given the position of pitcher on the team this year. No try outs needed.” With that said Nico and Alyn made their way to the desks next to the window near the front of the room. Alyn sat against the window with Nico in the seat beside him.

The room quieted down and Arrietty went back to reading. Though it was short lived and her head snapped up when the room was suddenly filled with squealing and giggling.

She looked to the door to see Louis Howard and Leo Crawford enter the room. A girl Arrietty didn’t know had been hanging on Leo’s arm and he waved to her as she left, probably going to her own classroom. The moment she left another girl took her place and began talking to him. Louis briskly crossed the room and took the seat in front of Alyn, nodding to him before he sat down. Alyn gave a small nod of acknowledgment back, but his face turned into a scowl when he saw Leo’s flirting.

Eventually the teacher walked in and Leo moved to the seat next to Louis. The rest of class was uneventful, their teacher went over the topics they would cover and told a little bit about themself. Finally the bell rang and Arrietty packed up her stuff, waiting until the other students left before leaving herself.

Her next class was English 12 which meant it was in the senior hallway. Arrietty walked quickly down the corridor, eyes cast downward, in an attempt to avoid drawing attention. Finally she made it to the classroom and took her normal seat in the back. Instead of pulling out her book she kept an eye on the door and waved when Crow walked in. Crow saw the wave and walked directly towards her, a knowing smile on her face.

“Hiding in the back?” She said jokingly, once she got close enough to speak in a quiet voice.

“It’s kinda my thing. It’ll be easier to text from back here you know.”

“True that.” Crow took the seat next to Arrietty and took her note book out of her bag. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors by now.”

“You mean the school getting turned upside down over a mystery pitcher? Ya I might of heard something.” Arrietty gave a small laugh before surveying the room. Students were loitering around having similar conversations to the ones she heard this morning. That wasn’t the only thing that was the same though. Suddenly the room filled with giggles and a few squeals as Leo Crawford entered.

“Did they actually just squeal?” Crow had moved her hands to cover her ears in a vain attempt to quiet the sound.

“Yes, yes they did. I need less classes with that guy, it’s bad for my sanity.” Arrietty rolled her eyes as she watched girls surround Leo at the door, each one trying to be the focus of his attention.

“You have him in another class?” There was surprise in Crows voice as she turned to her friend with a raised eyebrow.

Arrietty just gave a nonchalant shrug in return. “He was in my last class and two classes yesterday. For real though, do you think he’s gone deaf? I mean forget ear buds destroying hearing, those girls have got to be worse.”

“Probably, but he’s still good looking.” Crow nudged Arrietty with her elbow, but she just swatted the offending arm away.

“Ya no, not happening. I’m not interested in a one week boyfriend, or any boyfriend.” Leo had a reputation for not keeping his relationships for very long. The longest Arrietty had ever heard one of his relationships lasting was when he dated a girl over the summer. But they barely saw each other and broke up a week into the new school year.

“Aw but you guys could be all nerdy together, he is the only other junior in 12th grade English.”

“Then why don’t you date him?” Arrietty challenged, clearly trying to kill the topic.

“Sorry, but I already have a dream guy.” Crow’s eyes drifted to look a few rows in front of them where Byron Wagner was sitting with his friends Albert Burckhardt and Robert Branche.

Crow has had a thing for Byron since high school started but never did anything about it. Although it wasn’t that surprising, Arrietty didn’t know much about him since he was a senior but she heard his popularity was similar to that of Leo’s. Other than being popular the two boys didn’t have much in common though. Byron was quiet and emotionless while Leo was the definition of a social butterfly.

Albert was the senior classes treasurer and played on the football team with Byron. He wasn’t very social and spoke in a direct and criticizing manor that kept most girls from pinning after him. Robert was also in the student council as the senior classes historian. He wasn’t on a sports team like his two friends though, instead he was the president of the art club. Arrietty had seen some of his work and had to admit that it was impressive, his landscape paintings were breathtaking.   

Leo finally pulled away from the girls who had been clinging to him and moved to sit in the same row as Byron but against the opposite wall. When he sat down he started chatting with the two seniors near him. Arrietty immediately recognized the person next to Leo as Giles Christophe, the senior class president. Next to Giles was a guy she didn’t know.

Arrietty lowered her voice to a whisper as she leaned closer to Crow. “Who’s he?” She pointed towards the boy next to Giles.

“That’s Sid, he’s a pretty big deal on the football team.”

“He looks like a drug dealer.” Crow gave a laugh that, which she attempted to disguised as a cough, while Arrietty snickered quietly.

“He really does though.” Crow finally responded after she recovered from her little episode. The rest of class went by uneventfully and soon the two friends were heading to the lunch room together. They were eating at a table in the back with Amy and Christina when a commotion caught their attention.

Evan was in the middle of the cafeteria with his grip on a very unamused Alyn’s shirt. He was yelling at Alyn about giving his spot as pitcher to some nobody who cheated the machine. Alyn for his part, looked completely unconcerned as he just stared blankly back at Evan. Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere Evan released Alyn with a shove.

“If someone could really pitch like that they would step forward. I’m not going to lose my spot to a cheater.” Evan said with a threatening tone.

Alyn’s voice was cool and calm when he responded. “The machine was looked at and there was no sign of tampering. But your right, it’s not fair to let this drag on.” Alyn paused and that infuriating smirk appeared on his face. “ So, if we don’t see any proof of a mystery pitcher by tomorrow then we’ll call off the deal.” With that he turned and left, the cafeteria broke out in hushed murmurs once he was gone. Evan turned and made his way back to his table, clearly satisfied with Alyn’s declaration.

“So much for getting back at Evan. Now he’s just gonna brag that even cheaters can't beat him, it’s over.” Amy dropped her head onto the table dramatically with a soft thud.

“Who said this was over?” Arrietty looked over the top of her book with a raised eyebrow and smug expression.

Amy looked up, disappointment written all over her face. “If you just tell them it was you he’s going to keep his position! You can’t play on the boys team.”

“Actually I could, there’s loopholes to that rule. But that wasn’t my plan anyway.” Arrietty closed the book she had been reading and put it in her bag.

“Well then, what is your plan?” Christina had a suspicious and guarded look on her face as she considered Arrietty.

Instead on answering Arrietty turned to look at Crow. “Got any plans for after school today?”

Crow just smiled back. “I do now.”

“Perfect, see you fourth period.” With that she stood up and turned to Christina. “Let’s go, I want to get to orchestra early.” Christina quickly packed up her things and the two girls left to go to their next class.

Third period was a bore as the teacher spent the entire time auditioning new members so they could pick out instruments. The old members spent their time chatting in the auditorium seats and before they knew it class was over.

Arrietty made her way to the art room and took a seat at the back table where Crow was already waiting. The girls quickly began discussing the class and what themes they were considering for the year. They where so immersed in their conversation they didn’t notice the person walking towards them until he was right next to them.

“Do you mind?” Arrietty looked up to see Louis Howard. He motioned to the other seat at their table while maintaining blank expression on his face.

“No, go ahead.” Crow responded and Louis sat down across from them. He proceeded to ignore the two girls and went about his own business getting ready for class. Arrietty looked around a noted that most of the other tables were already full and the ones that weren’t had girls who were staring at Louis. She almost felt bad for the guy, he clearly just wanted to be left alone.

Before one of the girls could get up and move into the last empty seat at their table another boy sat down. Both girls recognized Robert from their earlier class. Though he only gave them a short greeting, which Crow returned, before quietly talking with Louis. The rest of class was filled with outlines for the year and a tour of the room. After class the girls waited until everyone else left before exiting into the hallway.

“So what’s your devious plan?” Crow asked while they walked slowly towards the library.

“I’m going to pitch again and break the last record. But we’ll need to wait until the teams go outside for practice.” So they waited for about twenty minutes, plenty of time for the teams to get outside, before making their way to the gym.

Arrietty carefully opened the gym door and looked around before stepping inside, Crow right behind her. The girls moved down the hallway, careful to not make too much noise incase someone was around. They slipped into the baseball room which had been unlocked and closed the door behind them. Crow quickly moved to the machine and turned in on while Arrietty got ready to pitch. In no time at all the Crow was typing in the name and the girls slipped out of the gym.

Once they were outside the school and walking home Crow felt safe to talk. “Isn’t Yeti the name you use for your game?” Arrietty nodded, keeping her head facing forward. “And the name on my coffee mug.”

“Do you think they’ll notice in time?”

“With all the buzz this has been getting I’m sure they will. Although I originally wasn’t planning on doing it again so quickly, they’ll keep an eye on the room now. We won’t be able to do this again for some time.”

“Were you really planning on doing this again?” Arrietty just shrugged. “Not really, I was only going to do it twice so they didn’t think the first time was a glitch or something.”

Crow just nodded and the girls walk for awhile before Crow spoke up again. “Isn’t your hallway full of boys on the baseball team?”

“Yeah, I saw their names on the floor plan when I went to get my room. Alyn, Leo, Nico, and Louis but he isn’t on the team.”

“You know there's lots of girls who would kill to be living next to those four and here you are leaving an hour before school starts just to avoid them.”

“I just hope I can make it all year before running into any of them.” At that Crow rolled her eyes and the two friends continued home.

 

* * *

 

 

Soccer practice was over and the team had left the locker room to go home. Alyn, Nico, and Leo had stayed behind to clean up the equipment and lock up before leaving.

Nico was walking down the hallway when he noticed the baseball team room was open. His eyes went wide and he waved down the hallway signaling Leo, who had just stepped out of the locker room. Leo raised an eyebrow at him and Nico pointed at the door. Leo nodded and quietly made his way down the hallway. Nico stepped into the room and Leo closed the door behind them. After a quick scan of the room it appeared that no one was there.

“Hello, is anyone in here?” Nico called out, walking further into the room. The two boys searched around to make sure no one was hiding before Nico went over to the pitching machine.

“No way!” Leo’s head snapped towards Nico at the sudden yell. “Leo, there’s a new record and it’s by the same person.” Nico was staring at the machine when the door suddenly opened.

“What are you yelling about?” Alyn stepped in the room with an annoyed look on his face.

“It seems as though our mystery pitcher struck again while we were at practice.” Leo offered before walking over to Nico to look at the record.

“What?!” Alyn marched over to look for himself and Leo stepped back so Alyn could see. “The door was left open, maybe we should start locking it?” Leo wondered aloud, seeming to consider their options.

“It’s the second day in a row that this has happened, I say we have someone stay in here during practice tomorrow.” Alyn said, clearly fed up with the situation.

“I’ll do it, if you’re missing someone will surely notice.” Nico volunteered before he slid out of the chair, letting Alyn sit down.

“You should put the key to the door in your locker Alyn, if we put it in the usual spot someone could just take it.” Leo said before he spun around and left the room, the others soon following.


	5. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrietty's last attempt at pitching doesn't go as she planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the scene that originally inspired me to write this story. I enjoyed writing it and I hope you all enjoy reading it! I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback so please don't hesitate to comment.

The rest of the week passed quickly and rumors about the mystery pitcher continued to spread. It was soon Friday which meant there would be no sports practices. Instead the team leaders chose who made the cut while the other players threw a huge back to school party. The baseball team had left the offer for the mystery pitcher open since it was obvious that whoever it was hadn’t been cheating. It was currently lunch time and Arrietty was at her usual table with her friends.

Apparently, it was also Evan’s favorite time to cause a scene because a very similar conversation to Tuesday’s was happening, only more people were involved this time. Evan was accusing Alyn of being a poor captain since he was letting this mystery pitcher join the team and was demanding that he step down. Obviously that didn’t sit well with the other’s and a argument was taking place.

“Instead of sitting here arguing with me why don’t you go practice so you can beat the mystery pitcher.” Alyn challenged, clearly not phased by Evan.

“I don’t need to practice, I already know I’m the best.” Evan shot back as he got in Alyn’s face.

Alyn just gave a short chuckle. “Prove it.” Evan growled before he turned and stomped out of the cafeteria, his lackeys following closely behind. 

Arrietty turned away from the scene to look at her friends. “I think it’s time to set a record Evan won’t be able to beat.”

“I can’t help you today, I’ve got work after school.” Crow gave an apologetic smile.

“I have a private lesson with Ms.Croxton.” Christina said, although she looked relieved to not be going.

“Looks like it’s you and me blondie.” Arrietty said as she looked over at Amy who had a concerned expression on her face. “Don’t you think it’s to soon? What if they’re expecting you?” 

But Arrietty just brushed off her worry. “I never see the team practice on the first Friday anyway, they have that stupid party at someone's house remember?”  Amy nodded just as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The girls all stood up and said their goodbyes before going their separate ways.

Arrietty was just turning the corner when she bumped into someone. The persons books tumbled to the ground and she reached down to pick them up. The person just stood there and made no move to help her.

Once she had gathered the books she stood back up and found herself staring at a boy, with scraggly blond hair, that she didn’t recognize. “Sorry, here you go.” She reached out and handed the books to the boy before walking past him and continuing to her class. The boy stood rooted to the spot as he watched her go.

After school Arrietty and Amy met up in front of the gym before making their way to the baseball room. Arrietty moved to open the door but suddenly stepped back with a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Amy asked as she nervously glanced around, afraid of being caught. 

“It’s locked.” Arrietty looked towards the boys locker room and started walking, Amy followed closely behind her. They stepped in the locker room and Arrietty quietly looked around to make sure it was empty. Once she was sure no one was there she went to the hanger where the keys to the team rooms normally hung. To her surprise the baseball team’s key was missing.

“The probably gave it to someone for safekeeping, let’s just go.” Amy said, tugging on Arrietty’s leather jacket as she glanced around the room.

“Good idea, I bet they gave it to the captain.” With that Arrietty began to scan the lockers until she reached the two beside each other with the name Crawford. They were in alphabetical order so she pulled the locker closer to the entrance but it was also locked. 

Before Amy could protest again Arrietty simultaneously banged her fist and foot on the locker. There was a moment of silence before the door swung open. Arrietty shot her friend a smug looked as she reached into the locker and pulled out a key. Amy just rolled her eyes and with the key in hand, the two girls ran toward the baseball room.

Unbeknownst to them Alyn, Leo, and Nico had been in a back area of the locker room going over the candidates for the soccer team. 

“I don’t know Alyn, he was fast but his control of the ball was pretty weak.” Leo was tapping his pencil against the table as he frowned at the name they were currently discussing.

“It’s a lot easier for me to teach control than it is to train someone to run as fast as him.” Alyn was sitting across the table from Leo with a list of candidates in front of him. He set down his list and looked over to the left where Nico was filling in names on the mock field he had drawn on the whiteboard. “What do you think Nico?”

“I think Alyn’s right this time, we need someone to play left mid field and they’ll need speed and endurance.” Nico tapped his marker thoughtfully against his chin.

“Well what about-” Leo didn’t get to finish his sentence as he was cut off by a loud bang coming from the lockers.

“No one else should be here this late.” Alyn said with a hint of confusion in his voice. The boys exchanged a glance before they stood and made their way towards the door. Once they were in the main area of the locker room Alyn motioned for Leo to check the lockers by the door. Leo nodded and headed in that direction while Alyn made a similar gesture telling Nico to check the showers.

Alyn began to walk past the lockers, searching carefully for the cause of the sound. Meanwhile, Leo looked down each row of lockers as he went by until he reached the row with his own locker. To his surprise one of the locker doors was wide open, but it wasn’t his.

“Well what do we have here?” Leo peered in his brothers locker, as he suspected the key to the baseball room was missing. Alyn and Nico, having heard him, walked over to see what he was looking at.

“It seems as though our mystery pitcher came for the key.” Leo looked over at his two friends, a bemused smile on his face. “Perhaps we should go introduce ourselves.”

“There probably in the baseball room now.” Nico said excitedly. He quickly turned around and headed towards the hallway. Alyn gave a small grunt before following Nico with Leo right behind him.

When Leo and Alyn caught up to Nico he was peering into the baseball room through the slightly ajar door. Alyn moved to open the door fully but Leo caught his arm, pulling him back. Alyn turned to snap at his brother but Leo just put a finger to his lips and glanced into the room over Nico’s head. He looked just in time to see the last pitch be thrown. Only the pitcher wasn’t a guy like Leo had expected. Instead it was a thin girl who looked barely five feet in height. From his angel he could see she was wearing a black leather jacket and had some kind of charm hanging from her belt on her right side.

“Alright that was it, now let’s hurry before someone comes.” Leo turned his gaze toward the pitching machine where another girl he vaguely recognized from history class last year was sitting. He couldn't recall her name but he remembered her being very shy.

“Relax I’m sure they’re all at that stupid party anyway. Wait for me by the gym door and text me if anyone comes, I’m going to put the key back.” The girl started to move towards the door and Leo quickly grabbed Alyn and Nico by the arm before pulling them back towards the locker room.

In the baseball room Arrietty grabbed her bag off the floor before moving towards the door. Amy quickly shutdown the machine and followed behind her. The girls stepped into the hallway and Arrietty locked the door while Amy started towards the exit. She then headed towards the boys locker room to return the key she had stolen from Alyn’s locker. The locker door was still open and she set the key where she had picked it up from.

“Guess they weren’t as slick as they thought they were.” Arrietty mumbled to herself as she moved to shut the locker.

“I don’t know about that, still managed to catch you.” Arrietty spun towards the sound and took a step back. Alyn stood up straight from where he had been leaning against the lockers, previously blocked by his open locker door. He had that infuriating smirk on his face again and one eyebrow raised as he looked over Arrietty. Clearly trying to size up the mystery pitcher.

Not willing to give him a chance to question her, Arrietty took another step back before spinning around and darting out of the locker room. At least, that was her plan. But when she turned around she crashed right into a solid chest. Before she could recover an arm wrapped around her waist while a hand gently caught her wrist, effectively trapping her in place.

“Hello there.” Arrietty looked up to see none other than Leo Crawford smiling down at her. He pulled her closer so their chests were almost pressed together as he studied her face. “What’s a lovely lady like yourself doing sneaking around the boys locker room?” 

Leo was so close that their noses were almost touching and she could feel his breath on her lips. It took her a moment to recover from the shock of being held so close by a stranger. Arrietty had always been sensitive when it came her bubble of personal space, she rarely hugged her own family members. So being held intimately by a guy she barely knew was miles out of her comfort zone.

Arrietty was ready to tell this guy off. But before she could get the words out he suddenly moved his face away from her. There was a slight crinkle in his eyebrows and his lips had shifted into a small frown.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, are you a freshman?” There was curiosity and confusion in his voice and Arrietty had to hold back a scoff. How dense could one person be? Maybe if he looked up from the fan girls clinging to his arm all the time he’d know who she was. Arrietty wasn’t about to complain though, his weakness was her advantage. “No, I don’t go to this school.” She kept her voice calm and even as she gave a curt reply, unwilling to let herself be intimidated.

“Nice try, do you honestly think we’ll believe that? There’s no way someone from another school would of been able to pull this off.” Alyn said with a smug tone. This time Arrietty couldn’t help the scoff that escaped her lips.

“Well I’m in two classes with you and four classes with him.” She said, indicating Leo with her head. “And you just asked me if I was a freshman. My chances seemed pretty good.” Her snarky comment didn’t have the effect she expected though as Leo simply chuckled at her. He was still holding her close and she felt the laugh reverberate through his chest.

Just then Nico stepped out from behind the locker snickering at Alyn. “She sure told you.” Alyn just shot him a glare and he immediately stifled his laughing. Arrietty chose to ignored both of them and began struggling in an attempt to free herself from Leo’s hold.

“Ever hear of a thing called personal space?” She said as she glared up at Leo when he didn’t immediately release her. “You can let go of me now.” In response Leo just tightened his grip before leaning down to whisper in her ear. “I don’t think I want to just yet.” Arrietty felt her heart rate increase as his warm breath tickled her ear. With how closely pressed together they were she was sure he could tell. 

“Hey is everything-” At that moment Amy had walked into the locker room but stopped mid sentence when she saw what was going on. After a moment of silence she started to step backwards toward the door. “Oh wow, this isn't the music room. I’ll just go find it now.” With that she turned and darted out of the room. Arrietty let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes as Nico began snickering again.

“I think you just lost your partner in crime.” Nico said as he moved over to the door to watch Amy run down the hallway.

Leo ignored the interruption in favor of looking down thoughtfully at the girl in his arms. “Why don’t we go get milkshakes, my treat. We have a lot to talk about.”

“I don’t think so, I’ll pass.” Arrietty shot down Leo’s invitation, but to her surprise Leo just grinned at her. The hand that had been holding her wrist moved to catch her hand, fingers twining with her own. Leo then slowly removed the arm he had wrapped around her waist.

Arrietty immediately stepped back and attempted to pull away from him. But she stopped mid effort when Leo held up the hand that had been around her waist. In its grip was a phone with a black case that was extremely familiar to Arrietty. He must have taken it out of her pocket when he pulled his arm away.

Leo just sent her a teasing smirk as he held the phone above his head. He was already a foot taller than her and Arrietty knew there was no way she was getting her phone back. So instead she just glared at him, a slight frown adorning her face.

“Come on, don’t make that face. I’ll give it back to you afterwards.” Leo’s smile turned softer, and more genuine as he gently tugged on her hand. After a moment of hesitation Arrietty began to follow, allowing Leo to guide her along as they made their way to the schools exit.

Alyn followed behind while Nico walked in front of them. Arrietty remained a step behind Leo as they walked and watched as he slid her phone into the front pocket of his vest.


	6. Diner Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrietty get's dragged along to a popular school hangout by Leo, Alyn, and Nico. But things take a turn for the worse when some unexpected people show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the Kudos! I'm glad so many people like this story.

Across the street from their school was a small shopping center. It had a cafe, diner, shops, and a few other buildings, making it a popular hangout for students. The unlikely group had just stepped outside the school when Arrietty realized something. Leo was still holding her hand. But it wasn’t bothering her like it normally did. She didn’t dwell on it long though and decided to say something.

“You can let go of my hand now.” She tried to sound as annoyed as possible while she stared at their still linked hands.

“But then you might run away.” There was a taunting edge to Leo’s voice and something else Arrietty couldn’t quite place. She tried to pull away but Leo just tightened his grip.

If Leo was being honest with himself, he didn’t really know why he was acting this way. He just knew that he liked how her hand felt in his and he didn’t want to let go yet. Before he could reflect on his feelings further he was interrupted by her voice.

“You have my phone.” Arrietty pointed out, clearly still bitter about that fact. She was looking at up at Leo as he faced forward and for a moment she thought she saw a frown on his face. But when he turned to look at her he had a teasing smile again and Arrietty wondered if she had imagined it.

“Maybe I don’t want to.” Arrietty raised an eyebrow at the familiar phrase and Leo gave a small laugh before he turned his face forward again, still not letting go of her hand.

When they got to the diner Nico held open the door and sent Arrietty a cheeky smile as Leo continued to pull her along. Inside Leo guided her to a booth in the back. Arrietty gazed around room, the diner had a sort of old fashion theme and it was fairly empty. They got to the booth and Leo motioned for her to sit down. Once she was seated Leo slid in next to her, blocking her from escaping. Alyn moved into the seat across from her and Nico sat next to him.

Arrietty shifted as far back in the seat as she could and leaned against the window, arms crossed. Leo set his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand as he looked at her. “So, why don’t we start by introducing ourselves.”

“I know who you are.” Arrietty cut in before Leo could continue with his introduction.

“Ah, but we don’t know who you are.” An encouraging smile graced Leo’s face as looked at her expectantly. She silently considered Leo for a bit before responding in a quiet voice that the boys almost had to strain to hear.

“Arrietty.”

Leo faltered for a moment, surprised at the sudden shyness in her voice. “Alright then Arrietty, did you want to tell us why you were sneaking into our team room and using the pitching machine under a fake name?”

“No, not really.” The shyness from a moment ago was now gone like it had never been there in the first place.

“Come on, we're not going to get you in trouble or anything.” Nico encouraged cheerfully. Even though she had broken into Alyn’s locker it’s not like Nico thought she had done anything unforgivable. To be honest he was more curious about her and the situation than anything else.

“We just want to know why you did it.” Leo pressed lightly. There was something about this girl that made him want to know more.

“You have to at\least have a reason for doing it.” Alyn, fed up with Arrietty’s lack of response, finally cut into the conversation.

She turned her gaze to glare at Alyn. “Maybe you should go ask your super star pitcher. I’m sure he could give you a whole list of people who’d want to get back at him.” Alyn just blinked in surprise at the venom in her tone.

“Super star pitcher? Do you mean Evan?” Nico asked curiously.

“Did he do something to you?” There was a strange amount of concerned laced in Leo’s voice. He was staring at her and she could see the worry in his eyes. Arrietty idly wondered why he seemed so worried about someone he had just met, but with Evan’s track record it probably wasn’t that unusual.

“No, him and his moronic friends poured blue gatorade on my friend and made her cry.” Arrietty looked away from the others in favor of watching her fingers twiddle with the end of her jacket.

Silence fell over the table as the three boys stared at her. The dots finally connected for Leo as he realized she hadn’t done it for herself, she did it for her friend. She had never cared about making the team or showing off.

He silently admired how she was able to do something so crazy for someone else just because they were a friend. Leo didn’t know if he could have done something like that. But they had kept pestering her about it and now she was nervously playing with her jacket and looking down. They probably made her feel like what she did was wrong. He had the sudden urge to reach across the seat and pull her into a hug.

Just then the waitress walked up to their table. “What can I get for you all?”

“Cookies n’ Cream milkshake for me!” Nico turned his attention to the waitress, dispelling the tense atmosphere their conversation had caused.

“Chocolate” Alyn finally stopped staring at Arrietty long enough to answer. It was now her turn to order, but she wouldn’t be won over with milkshakes.

“I’ll pass” she said sharply before turning her attention away from the waitress and out the window.

Leo wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily though. He smiled up at their waitress. “She’ll have Strawberry and Vanilla for me.”

The waitress giggled a little at his smile. She wrote down their orders and rushed off to have them filled, but not before sending Leo a small wave.

“I didn’t realize you were deaf Leo. Must be all the squealing girls who are always hanging off you arm.” Que Nico’s snickering and Alyn’s amused smirk.

“Aw come on, who doesn’t love milkshakes? Besides, I said it was my treat. It’s not much of a treat if you don’t have one.” Leo brushed off her insult like it was nothing and smiled at her.

“What if I’m allergic to strawberries?” She challenged, not about to back down that easily. Someone needed to knock this guy down a level or two.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to share with me.” Leo threw her a flirty wink. But instead of getting flustered or annoyed like he was expecting she just stared at him like he was an alien from another planet. Suddenly she turned to face Alyn.

“You two are twins right?” Alyn looked annoyed at the question but nodded anyway. Arrietty reached her hand across the table in an exaggerated manner before speaking in an even more exaggerated voice. “I’m so sorry.”

Alyn’s amused smile widened while beside him Nico almost fell out his seat laughing. Arrietty turned to look back at Leo when he made an offended sound. Leo’s face was a mix between shock and amusement, but it was gone quickly.

Two could play at this game. Leo put on a seductive smile as he began to lean towards her.

“Who would of thought our mystery pitcher would be such a feisty cutie like yourself.” He took a piece of her hair between his fingers and toyed with it, his face inches away from hers. Arrietty saw Alyn roll his eyes in her peripheral vision.

“What are you doing?” Her tone sounded honestly confused as she raised an eyebrow at him. She was looking at him again like he was the strangest thing she had ever seen. Leo was caught off guard and briefly wondered if he was losing his touch. She hadn’t reacted like any of the other girls did, but then again she hadn’t this entire time. At the very least she should have bushed when he was holding her earlier.

His inner musings were interrupted though when he heard the sound of a phone going off, only it wasn’t his. Arrietty’s eyes had widened slightly and Leo’s teasing smile made a reappearance as he pulled her phone from his pocket. She immediately moved forward to try and snatch it from him but he held it in his far hand, way outside of her reach.

She would have to reach across him to get it back and even then her odds were slim with the height difference. Instead she crossed her arms and glared at him again as he looked at the message she had received.

Suddenly he started typing on her phone and Arrietty moved to stop him. Before she could grab him she heard the sound of a message being sent. Leo turned back to her with a smug look on his face as he tucked her phone back into his pocket.

“What did you just do?” She asked him accusingly.

“Well since you don’t want to tell us what’s going on I figured maybe your friends would. So I told them where we are.” Arrietty glared at Leo and he laughed lightly.

Just then the waitress returned with their drinks, Leo took his and Arrietty’s and held hers out so she could take it. She kept glaring at Leo for a moment before accepting the drink from him. She took a sip and the look on her face showed just how much she liked it. Leo couldn’t help the satisfied grin on his face as he watched her enjoy the milkshake.

“So why don’t you pitch for the girl's team?” Alyn asked, breaking the temporary silence.

“How do you know I don’t?” Arrietty said with that challenging tone in her voice again, only it seemed lighter this time.

“We practice with their team all the time.” Alyn sat back against the booth with a triumphant look on his face.

“You didn’t even know I was in some of your classes until like, an hour ago.” Nico had been drinking his milkshake and began coughing when he laughed at her comment. Leo took a sip of his own milkshake in a vain attempt to hide his smile.

“Touché, you still didn’t answer my question though.” Alyn ignored his friend and brother in favor of his conversation with Arrietty.

“Sorry, I don't do sports.” With that said Arrietty leaned back and began drinking her milkshakes again, as if to say their conversation was over.

“You don’t do sports?” Nico said in disbelief while Alyn just scoffed at her.

“Then where did you learn to pitch like that?” Alyn questioned, not buying her excuse at all.

“My brother’s friends played baseball, they needed someone to pitch to them.” Arrietty gave a shrug like it was no big deal.

“You learned to pitch like that from practicing with you brother’s friends?” Alyn looked at her skeptically.

Before that line of questioning could continue the group was interrupted by two people walking up to their table. Amy and Christina stood there nervously, Christina hidden slightly behind Amy. Before Leo could make a move on them Arrietty spoke up.

“Get out of here guys. Someone-” She paused to glare pointedly at Leo, to which he just smiled back. “stole my phone and decided to text you, just go back to the apartment without me.” Christina looked relieved as she glanced over Amy’s shoulder.

“But wouldn’t you ladies like to sit down and chat with us?” Leo wasn’t about to pass up this chance and sent his most charming smile at the two girls.

“N-no, that’s okay. We, uh, have to go to somewhere.” Amy was clearly flustered by Leo and her reply came out stuttered.

“Are you sure? I’d hate to make you come all this way for nothing.”

“T-that’s okay, we live right around the corner from here.” Leo’s eyebrow raised at that. He knew the girl in the back looked familiar. She was the orchestra girl, which meant these two must live on the top floor of their apartment complex.

“Is that so. Do you by chance live in that gray stone apartment complex?” Leo's smile widened when the two girls started fidgeting.

“Oookay, that’s enough of that. You guys can leave now.” Arrietty cut in before Leo could pull more information out of her friends.

“You’re not going to walk home with us?” Amy asked hesitantly.

“No need to worry, we’ll make sure she gets home safely. It’ll be no trouble at all.” Leo spoke to Amy in smooth voice and Amy flushed a deep red before stuttering out what she intended to be a snappy comeback. “W-well I would hope an extra two feet wouldn’t be trouble.”

Silence fell over the table and Amy’s eyes went wide as she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. Nico was looking between the two girls and Arrietty while Alyn just stared at her in confusion. Leo was still looking at Amy and shot her another charming smile.

“Oh, and just what do you mean by that?” Leo’s voice was oozing false charm.

“W-well, I m-mean… we all live close to the school cause we go there. S-so it’s like two steps?” Amy’s voice came out a squeak and it was obvious she was lying. There was a small smacking sound as Arrietty covered her face with her palm and sighed exasperatedly.

“Go. Now.” Arrietty said shortly. Amy and Christina nodded vigorously before dashing out of the diner. Once they were out the door Leo slowly turned his body back towards Arrietty.

“And just what did she mean, Arrietty?” Leo slowly annunciated her name as he leaned closer.


	7. Diverting Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrietty is faced with the problem of Leo finding out she lives right across the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The election in Midnight Cinderella for 2018 is coming up soon. Show your love and vote for Leo! <3

“And just what did she mean, Arrietty?” Leo slowly annunciated her name as he leaned closer.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Her tone had a dangerous edge as she narrowed her eyes at Leo. His smirk grew wider at the obvious denial.

Nico was watching the scene intently while Alyn, having lost interest some time ago, was looking through his phone.

“Are you sure? I already have a pretty good guess. But if you tell me.” He paused to lean closer and then whispered. “I’ll give you back your phone.” Arrietty felt the sudden need to hit him, who did this guy think he was?

“I thought you were going to give me my phone back when we finished talking.” Arrietty was beyond annoyed at this point. Not only had she been dragged to a public hangout, but now her phone was being held hostage by a playboy vampire.

“Well we haven’t finished talking yet, have we?” Leo taunted, he was smiling at her. But it was more than that. His deep crimson eyes had mischief dancing in them. There was something almost hypnotic about the look in his eye, she didn’t dwell on it though.

Even if he wasn’t finished talking, she sure was. Arrietty narrowed her eyes at him and pressed her lips together in a thin line. A few moments of silence passed until Leo finally raised his eyebrow.

“Are you not talking to me now?” In response Arrietty just raised an eyebrow back at him.

Leo chuckled down at her before sitting back. He looked across the table at Nico and Alyn. “Why don’t you guys head back and I’ll see you later.” Arrietty immediately shot up in her seat and Leo turned to her with and innocent expression.

“Oh? Did you have something you wanted to say Arrietty?” His voice was dripping with fake sincerity and Arrietty sat back in her seat, still glaring at him.

By now Nico was standing next to the table and Alyn was already walking out the door. “Play nice Leo.” Nico said jokingly before catching up with Alyn. Leo watched them go before he turned his attention back to the girl next to him, who was still glaring daggers.

“If you don’t talk to me, how will I know what you want?” Leo teased. He had closed the space between them on the seat and his leg was now brushing against hers. His arm rested on the back of the booth while he leaned over her slightly.

“Give it back.”

At that Leo’s smile turned into an impish grin. “You’ll have to ask me politely if you want it back.” He taunted, as he pulled her phone out of his pocket. He made sure to keep it far enough away that he could pull back if she tried to grab it.

Arrietty paused for a moment before looking up into his eyes. She didn’t notice Leo doing something on her phone as she stared at him. Arrietty grit her teeth and the words came out with a dangerous tone. “Leo, can I please have my phone back?”

Leo smiled pleasantly at her as he handed over the phone. “Certainly.” With that said he slid out of the booth and held out a hand to her. “Would you like to walk back with me?”

Arrietty just smirked back at him. “What are you talking about? I don’t live anywhere near you.”

Leo just laughed as he spun around and walked towards the exit while waving over his shoulder. “Of course, you don’t. I’ll see you soon Arrietty.” That sounded more to her like an ominous warning than a farewell. Regardless, she was glad he was gone.

Arrietty sat by herself in the booth for some time after Leo had left. She knew that Leo, at the very least, suspected they lived in the same building. It was possible he even realized in the room right across from his. Fortunately, she had a plan.

Arrietty pulled out her phone and texted Crow that she was coming over before leaving the diner. She did a casual look around once she stepped outside to make sure Leo wasn’t around before heading to Crow’s building.

Once she arrived Crow was waiting for her in the lobby. Unlike her own building, Crow’s was completely finished construction. Which meant the lobby had a cafe and common area? The lobby in her apartment complex was still under construction. The building also had three levels of apartments, like her own, and Crow’s apartment was on the first floor.

The friends exchanged a small greeting before heading up to Crow’s apartment to talk. Once inside they sat in the kitchen and Arrietty began to fill Crow in on the day’s events.

“So, what are you going to do now? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was waiting in the hallway when you got home.” Crow was trying and failing not to laugh at her friend’s predicament.

“That’s where I need your help. I need you to go to my apartment and act like it’s you who lives there.” Arrietty pulled out a pen and scrap paper and began writing things down. “While you’re there could you grab some of my things? I’ll crash at Amy’s place for the weekend.”

“Sure. By the way I fully support your devious plan.”

“See, this is why we're such good friends.” Arrietty gave Crow the small list of the things she needed and her key before she left.

Crow got to Arrietty’s floor without running into anyone, but now she was intentionally louder in her steps and movements. It seemed to have paid off because as she was inserting the key the door behind her opened. She turned around to see Leo Crawford and some boy with pinkish hair looking over his shoulder.

“Oh hello, I guess you’re my new neighbors?” Crow kept her greeting casual, but it was hard not to laugh at the clear surprise written on both boys faces. When neither of them responded Crow sent them a strange look.

“Well alright then, nice meeting you?” Speaking again seemed to snap Leo out of his surprise.

“Ah sorry, I’m Leo and this is Nico. Is that your apartment?”

“Yes?” She used a confused tone like she didn't understand why they were asking her that. “I’m Kristina. Are you two juniors? I feel like I haven’t seen you around school before.”

“Yeah we are. Well if you ever need anything you know where to find us.” Crow could see why girls fell for this guy, once he pulled himself together he was actually quite charming.

“Likewise.” with that Crow finished unlocking her door before entering the apartment. Once the door shut Leo and Nico exchanged confused looks before going back into their own apartment.

“So, our mystery pitcher wasn’t living across the hall?” Nico had a disappointed look on his face as he flopped onto Leo’s arm chair.

“Her friend was probably exaggerating but she still got flustered when I tried to question her.” Leo sat back down on the sofa next to Louis who was watching Alyn play a video game on the television.

“She probably lives on the same floor as her friends.” Alyn pointed out, only half interested in the conversation. He had just wanted to know who they mystery pitcher was, not her entire life story.

“No, Sid said her friends are on the top floor with Byron, Albert, and Robert.” Leo sighed as he leaned against the back of his seat.

“Then she probably lives on Sid’s floor below us.” Nico suggested with a light shrug.

“Why does it matter where she lives?” Louis, who had been briefly filled in one what had happened, was giving the two a confused look.

“Where’s your sense of fun Louis?” Nico whined as he dramatically stretched himself out in the chair. Louis just rolled his eyes before looking back at the television, clearly uninterested.

“I agree with Louis, why are you guys so hung up on this? It’s over anyway, she already said she didn’t care about being on a team.” Alyn had stopped playing to look over at Nico.

“You’re telling me you're not the least bit curious about her?” Nico said in disbelief. “At the very least she was a hot girl who’s managed to go unnoticed by all of us through the last two years of high school. I had never even heard of someone in our grade named Arrietty before today.”

“Arrietty?” Louis’s voice seemed surprised and the others turned to look at him.

“Yeah, do you know her?” Leo asked curiously.

“Yes, she sits at the same table as me in art. I heard her friend call her name once. We haven’t spoken before though.”

“Seems like she’s in classes with all of us. Monday’s going to be interesting.” Leo crossed his arms behind his head with an amused smirk.

 

* * *

 

 

Crow waited inside Arrietty's apartment until she was sure the hallway was clear. Then as carefully and quietly as she could, slipped out of the building and returned to her own apartment.

“You should have seen the looks on their faces.” Crow had just stepped into her apartment. Arrietty looked up from her Pho when she heard her friend.

“Were they waiting outside my door?” Arrietty had an irked look on her face at the idea. “Oh, and I order you some Pho.”

“No, they were in the apartment across the hall, but they came out before I even unlocked the door so I’m pretty sure they were waiting. Also, I love you.” Crow sat down in the seat across from Arrietty and took her dinner.

“That’s hilarious, what did they say?” Crow began to fill Arrietty in on her encounter. After the story was told and dinner was eaten the friends moved into the living room.

“So, do you wanna stay here tonight? We could watch terrible Disney channel original movies and eat popcorn.”

“You know me to well, but we have raid at 10:00.” Arrietty moved over to her stuff that was sitting against the wall.

“True, but that still gives us a little over three hours.” Crow was already turning on her television.

“Okay, just let me take my medicine real quick.”

“Would you like a bowl, maybe some milk?” Crow said as she watched Arrietty begin to pull out various pill bottles.

“Har Har. It’s not that bad.”

“I had to carry a second bag just for your medication.” She pointed out as she went into the kitchen to make popcorn. “Are you going to hang out here tomorrow?”

“If it's no problem for you I’ll hang out here until my class starts.” Arrietty was in a college class program with a few other students at their school. She’d go to one of the college’s buildings tomorrow night for a web design class. “Then I’ll probably sleep over at Amy’s.”

“Alright, but just know you're always welcome to stay here.” Crow’s reassuring voice called from the kitchen.

“Thanks.” With that the girls reconvened on the sofa for their movie.

 

* * *

 

 

Before long Saturday night had rolled around and Arrietty was walking into her college class. She sat near the front this time since most students seemed to be loitering in the back. When she looked around the room she noticed a familiar head of scraggly blonde hair. It was the boy she had bumped into in the hallway. When she looked at him he turned his head away. She assumed he just didn’t want to be bothered by her, so she left it alone.

Arrietty had been looking at her textbook for a few minutes when she felt her phone vibrate. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. What she saw made her feel like throwing it across the room. There was a text from a Leo Crawford with three hearts after his name. She knew she hadn’t put that contact in her phone and her irritation only grew when she read the message.

‘What’s a beautiful girl like yourself got planned for her Saturday night?’

First of all, who the hell does this guy think he is? They’re not friends or even acquaintances and he had the gall to put his number in her phone and text her! Second of all, who starts a conversation like that? Must be how he normally picks up girls.

Arrietty decided to ignore the text and not encourage him. She figured he’d just go find some other girl to hang off his arm if she didn’t respond. After all, who was she to deny a squealing girl her dream? Although she did take a moment to change his contact name to Playboy Vampire.

Finally, the professor walked in and explained how the class would work from here on out. It was a casual class but Arrietty couldn’t shake this feeling she had. It started not long after class did, and it felt like someone was watching her. When she looked around the room she didn’t notice anybody though, so she turned her attention back to the teacher. But the feeling never went away. Arrietty tried her best to ignore it as class went on.

At the end of class, the boy with scraggly blonde hair approached her.

“Hi. Can we exchange numbers?” Many of the other students where exchanging numbers and so Arrietty did as well. He put his information in her phone before handing it back.

“Bye.” With that he quickly walked away.

Arrietty looked at her phone to see his name was Jeffery. She idly wondered if he had been looking at her all class. He seemed pretty shy, probably just trying to muster up the courage to talk with her. Brushing it off as nothing, she started walking home for the night. Tomorrow was the day she took her grandmother to the hairdresser and grocery store, so she wanted to be well rested.


	8. Chasing Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo can't stop thinking about the girl the mystery pitcher turned out to be. He wants to know more about her but she just shuts him out. So Leo decides to learn more about her another way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 2018 Midnight Cinderella Princess Choice Awards are still going on! If you love this story vote for LEO for "Guy You Want to Stroke Your Hair." He only needs to place second!

Monday finally rolled around and Arrietty left her house an extra thirty minutes earlier than she normally did. After the events of the last few days she was even more determined not to run into any of her neighbors. By the time she got to school there was almost an hour and a half before class started. She spent the time reading in the back of her classroom as always.

About thirty minutes before class started a few other students that liked to be early began to show up. Only today, there was someone new among them.

Leo walked in and to absolutely no one's surprise there was a girl clinging to his arm, talking his ear off. He wasn’t paying attention to her though. Instead he scanned the room until his eyes landed on a familiar figure huddled in the back with her face in a book.

Leo smiled to himself when he saw her but was interrupted when the girl suffocating his arm began to whine about him not paying attention to her. He detached himself from her grip and said a quick goodbye before stepping away.

Disbelief was written all over the girls face as Leo walked away. She gave an offended huff before turning on her heel and stomping out of the room.

He didn’t pay her any mind though, and instead began to make his way towards the back of the room. Arrietty was so absorbed in her reading that she didn’t notice him approach. He couldn't help but think how cute she was focused like that.

He dropped his bag on the desk next to hers with a thud and she jumped slightly before snapping her head towards him. In a movement that was far too graceful for a high school classroom, Leo slid into the seat next to her. He slowly and smoothly looked towards her with a flirty smile. “Ah, so you are real! I was starting to think you were a dream.”

It took Arrietty a moment to process what Leo had just done. Was he out of his mind? What could he possibly have been thinking sitting next to her like this. It’s not like they were suddenly friends, or like she would even want to be friends with someone like Leo Crawford. She couldn't help but stare at him incredulously.

“What about last Friday makes you think this is okay?”

Leo just gave a small laugh. “Well good morning to you too.” He shifted so he was sitting sideways in his seat, facing her.

“Go away.” If he stayed here any longer people were going to notice. That realization caused Arrietty to panic internally, the last thing she wanted right now was more attention. She did her best to keep the panic off her expression as she glared at him.

“You didn’t text me back.” Leo gave a small pout when he spoke. But Arrietty ignored his comment and expression in favor of trying to persuade him to leave.

“What’s it gonna take to get you to forget I exist?” She intended the words to come off sharp and biting but it sounded more like a plea.

Leo frowned at her. “What if I don’t want to forget you exist?” The way she had worded her request set Leo off slightly. It was almost like she was afraid of having him talk to her. It wasn’t in the shy way some girls acted around him either, this was different.

Arrietty averted her eyes, the look Leo was giving her made her feel uncomfortable. He looked like someone had just killed his puppy. “Hilarious. But seriously though, is this like a dare? Some stupid ego thing where you have to date every girl in the school?”

Leo was taken aback for a moment. Is that really what she thought about him?

His chest tightened. He already knew everyone thought of him as a flirt, so why did it bother him so much when she thought that way?

“I am being serious.” Leo tried to sound as sincere as he could as he moved to catch her gaze.

She glared at him but something else was distracting her. Her eyes kept darting away from him to look around the room, almost like she was panicking.

He wondered if she was looking for someone. Maybe she had a boyfriend and that’s why she didn’t want to be seen with him? The idea made Leo feel angry. What did she need another guy for anyway?

“Yeah okay.” Arrietty turned her gaze back to her book, obviously intending to ignore his presence.

“I am.” Leo reached over and snatched the book out of her hands. He didn’t want her looking away from him.

“Hey!” She stood up to try and grab it, but Leo just stood up as well. He smiled when he saw her expression. She looked even cuter when she was agitated. He imagined she’d just get mad at him if he told her that though, so he kept that thought to himself.

But before anything else could happen they were interrupted.

“Leo!? What are you doing?” Some girls in their class were staring at Leo from the front of the room.

“Come talk with us.” The girl with short hair who had called out was pouting while another girl standing next to her was glaring at Arrietty.

“Your fans are calling.” Arrietty said in a flat tone as she held out her hand. Leo was frowning again as he looked between the girls and Arrietty. He slowly lowered the arm that had been holding her book.

He didn’t care about them, he’d rather stay here with her. “I don’t-”

“Come on Leo!” Before he could finish the girl called out to him again.

Arrietty reached forward and took her book out of his hand, then sat down again. Leo began to step towards her.

“Leo!”

He stopped mid step.

The girl was practically shouting now. He looked at Arrietty one last time before picking up his bag and walking away. He took his normal seat next to Louis and the girl sat next to him right away, her friends surrounding them.

They stayed like that until class started and Leo was finally given a chance to breathe. It normally didn’t bother him to talk with the girls. But today he felt like screaming at them to leave him alone.

He found himself looking back more than once at Arrietty, but she never spared him a glance. He didn’t really understand why he cared so much. She was just another girl. But something about her just drew him towards her. He figured it was probably curiosity since she was such a challenge. She acted differently from other girls when he flirted with her, she didn’t just fall for him.

Finally, the bell rang and Leo was pulled out of his inner musings. He moved to pack up his stuff quickly, but by the time he looked behind him she was already gone. Leo frowned but before he could look for her a girl he vaguely recognized linked arms with him and began talking. He tried to pay attention and smile at her as they left the room, but it felt strained.

Arrietty had left class as quickly as possible, the last thing she needed was Leo making another scene in front of everyone. She got to her next class and was relieved to find Crow already there.

She didn’t waste any time crossing the room to her seat. “Give me your jacket. Quick.”

“What? Why?” Crow asked but removed her jacket nonetheless. Arrietty didn’t answer, instead she took off her own jacket and stuffed it into her bag before putting Crows on. She pulled the hood over her head and looked down at her phone. Just then Leo walked into the room and looked around briefly before turning his attention back to the girl with him.

“Oh, that’s what your hiding from.” There was a hint of amusement in Crow’s voice as she tapped her friends shoulder, signaling it was okay to sit up.

“Last time he looked harder, but this is a senior class, so I don’t think he was expecting me.” Crow just shook her head slightly, giving an exasperated sigh as she did so.

Class soon started, and the teacher revealed that they would be assigned reading groups for their first book next week. The group would be able to choose their book from a provided list. A small project would be done later on the book, but the teacher didn’t go into much detail for the time being.

After class the friends waited until Leo and his entourage left before heading to the cafeteria. The music room was being used for practice since the local music festival was coming up, so they hadn’t been able to eat there. As they were approaching the double doors they were stopped by someone Arrietty could have gone without meeting again.

“Hey. You got a second?” Arrietty turned around to see Alyn Crawford and a couple girls she didn’t know.

“Sure.” It’s not like she and Alyn had suddenly become friends was it? I mean they had barely talked other than him questioning her. But he wasn’t like his brother, he had just wanted to know what was going on. So Arrietty decided to humor him. “You need something?”

One of the girls stepped up to talk to her. “Hi, I’m the captain for the girl’s baseball team.”

“Alright let me stop you there. I appreciate the offer, but I can’t do sports. So, thanks, but no thanks.” Arrietty needed to stop this before they got their hopes up. She just couldn’t do sports anymore.

But what she didn’t know was that while they were talking with the baseball players, Leo had found his way over to their normal table. As he approached the table he looked over again to make sure Arrietty was still distracted. He knew Alyn would stop her and he wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by.

“Hello again, how are you ladies doing today?” Leo was standing across the table from where Christina and Amy were sitting. Christina looked like she wanted to melt into the floor while Amy fidgeted nervously.

“Hi.” Only Amy responded but that was good enough. Leo took a seat while casually looking over his shoulder to make sure Arrietty was still distracted.

“I was wondering if you could help me understand something.” The corner of Leo’s mouth turned up. “Arrietty told me she couldn’t meet me this morning. Do you know why?”

“O-oh, well Arrietty always gets to homeroom an hour early.” Amy’s voice stuttered, and she began nervously playing with her hair. Leo just smiled gratefully at her.

“Is that so? Do you know where I could find her after school then?” Leo almost felt a little bad getting information this way but it’s not like he had many options.

“Probably re-watching Disney movies for the thousandth time.” Christina muttered quietly. Leo turned towards her, but Amy quickly elbowed her in the ribs.

“U-uh never mind. W-we wouldn’t know.” Amy said hurriedly. Leo could tell by the way she looked down that she was lying.

He checked behind him again and saw Arrietty getting ready to leave the baseball players. He was out of time. But he learned at least one thing, so that would have to do for now.

“Thank you anyway. I’ll leave you two alone now.” With that he stood up and walked away before he was caught.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Arrietty left home early as she always did but waited outside of the school until Willow got there. They had never been super close, but she was good friends with Amy and Christina. Willow also didn’t know anyone in their first period so the two had been sitting next to each other.

Amy and Christina had filled Arrietty in on their encounter with Leo which just made her all the more determined to avoid him. So, she decided to walk to class with Willow, who was kind enough to go along with her plan.

They arrived twenty minutes early and sat in their normal seats. Fifteen minutes passed, and students slowly came in. Finally, Leo entered with Nico and some girl. Arrietty idly wondered how he managed to find a new girl to walk around with every day.

His eyes scanned the room and finally landed on her. He smiled but before he could do anything the teacher walked in behind him. Leo didn’t have a choice but to move to his seat as the teacher began class.

All throughout class Arrietty could feel Leo’s gaze on her but she didn’t dare look at him. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage him.

As soon as class ended Arrietty moved out the back door, practically running. She made her way to her next class before Leo could catch her. She would have class with him again third period and study hall fourth period. But she could go to the music room for that since she was in the orchestra.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, Arrietty managed to avoid Leo in her third period class and before she knew it the day was over.


	9. Morning Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrietty's Wednesday morning gets off to a rough start when Leo decides to hunt her down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm righting a series of one shots featuring the prompts for the 2018 Princess Choice Awards. So if you care about that there should be at least five by the time I'm finished.  
> Also, I have a tumblr now with the same name I use here - Arrietty Crawford. I'm putting up some of my sketches there if you wanna see my bad art skills.

Arrietty went to school on Wednesday with Crow. Leo now knew she got to school early and she had a strong feeling that he would be there if she went to homeroom. So, instead of waiting in her classroom the two friends were hiding in a quiet hallway that held the school’s foreign language rooms. They were currently sitting against the wall behind one of the large double doors, as out of sight as possible.

On the other side of school in Arrietty’s homeroom, Leo stood in the doorway. A frown adorned his face when he didn’t see who he was looking for. She wasn’t at her desk, but he was sure she normally was by this time.

As he was considering the possibility that she hadn’t come to school today he spotted Amy in the hallway. She was heading towards the door to the stairwell and he quickly moved to block her path before she could get there.

“Morning, you’re looking lovely today.” Amy jumped at his sudden appearance. Once she realized who it was and what he had said her cheeks flushed bright red. Leo continued as if he hadn’t notice her reaction. “Do you know if Arrietty came to school today?”

“I-I’m sure she’s here. Arrietty hasn’t missed a day since middle school.” Amy was looking down at her feet as she spoke to him, her voice stuttered.

“Is that so. Then do you know where I could find her?” Leo’s voice held an undertone of surprise. It wasn’t exactly easy to have perfect attendance. He made a mental note to never ask Arrietty to play hooky with him.

Amy just shook her head. “She always goes to homeroom. If she’s not their she may be meeting with a teacher.”

Just then the door Leo had been blocking opened. He stepped aside slightly as Christina walked through, she saw Amy and immediately began speaking.

“Hey Crow and Arrietty are-” When her eyes landed on Leo she immediately cut herself off with a squeak.

His smile widened as he turned to face her properly. “Ah, maybe you can help me? I’m looking for Arrietty.”

Leo caught the door with one hand and stepped closer to Christina. At this point she was already trembling and wringing her hands together nervously.

When she didn’t respond right away Leo leaned closer and spoke again. “It would really help me out if you could tell me where she was.”

Christina looked like she was about to faint but finally managed to squeak out an answer. “Language hallway.”

Leo pulled away and thanked her before heading off in the direction she had indicated.

 

* * *

 

 

“Don’t you think this is getting ridiculous.” Crow was sitting on the floor next to Arrietty with her calculator and textbook between them. In her lap was a notebook that she was currently doing her math homework in.

“I’d say this situation is just as ridiculous as he is.” Arrietty muttered and Crow just gave a small laugh.

“If you say so.” Realizing her stubborn friend wouldn’t budge on the topic Crow decided to change the subject. “You going to the back to school dance? Or are you going to continue your dodging streak of any and all social events?”

“Actually, I am going.”

Crow dropped her pencil as she snapped her head towards Arrietty. “Really?!”

“It’s not what you think. I said I would help with the food in the back. You probably won’t even see me.” Arrietty gave a nonchalant shrug as though the whole thing made no difference to her.

“Are you going to wear a dress?” Crow inquired as she comically wiggled her eyebrow.

“You think I’m going to wear a dress, so I can prepare food in the back? No way.” Arrietty scoffed at the idea. “I don’t think I even own a dress other than the one for orchestra.”

“I bet your new admirer would like it if you did.” Crow leaned over and nudged her playfully in the ribs.

“That’s not even funny.” Arrietty gave her an unimpressed look to which Crow just laughed. The friends lapped into a comfortable silence, with Crow occasionally asking Arrietty to check her work.

Suddenly Arrietty felt the presence of someone hovering over her and slowly looked up. When she did she was met with a pair of crimson eyes.

“You know, I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to avoid me.” Leo was leaning over her with his arm against the wall. He couldn’t help the smug expression on his face when he heard her mutter a quiet “damnit” under her breath.

“That’s because she is.” Crow cut in to the conversation and Leo turned his gaze towards her. It only took him a moment to realize she was the girl that lived in the apartment across from him. Before Leo could acknowledge her Arrietty cut in.

“I can’t help but feel like you’re following me.” Her voice was mocking as she mimicked his words from a moment before. Leo just gave a small chuckle as he grinned down at her. Arrietty was briefly reminded of the Cheshire Cat.

“Oh, look at that, I’ve got to get to class.” Crow quickly stood up, shooting Arrietty a wink before rushing off down the hall.

“Wha- hey don’t leave-!” But before Arrietty could stop her she was gone. Leo laughed lightly as he saw her stunned expression. When Arrietty heard him she immediately frowned, mumbling something about traitors under her breath.

Leo’s smile widened, and he extended a hand to her. She stared blankly at his hand for a moment before standing up using the wall for support instead. Leo didn’t let it deter him though and took advantage of the opening she had created. He moved the forearm of his outstretched hand to lay against the wall, caging her in.

He attempted to lock eyes with her, but she turned her head to the side. When she noticed his arms had her trapped she gave an exasperated huff.

Unbeknownst to her, turning her head had left her vulnerable and Leo leaned closer. He moved his mouth next to her ear and spoke in a husky murmur. “Why are you hiding from me?”

She went stiff in response but didn’t react beyond that. Slowly, she turned back to face him with an annoyed expression. Leo took note that she wasn’t even blushing. “What makes you think I’m hiding from you? Maybe I just like this hallway.”

“Is that why this is the first time you hung out here instead of the classroom?” Leo allowed his smile to turn a little smug at the surprise that momentarily lit up her face.

But her surprise quickly gave way to confusion before realization struck her. “Was it Amy or Christina?”

Leo chuckled, enjoying her range of facial expressions. “Both, I can be pretty persuasive you know.”

Her expression turned back into the glare he had become well accustomed to over the last few days. “If you want attention go find your squealing fangirls. I’m sure they’d love to be bothered by you.”

“You wouldn’t be getting jealous now, would you?” Leo would be lying if he said he didn’t like the idea of her getting jealous over him.

To his surprise Arrietty was giving him that look again. The one that said she thought he was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever seen. “Jealous? Are you kidding? Those girls have practically become my saviors at this point. I was thinking about sending them all thank you cards.”

Leo just blinked at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. Arrietty looked alarmed at the sudden noise and lightly shoved his chest.

“Shut up! Do you want the whole school to hear you?” She yell whispered at him. It took Leo a couple minutes before he pulled himself together and raised an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t mind, but you sure seem to. In fact, you seem to mind anyone noticing you at all.”

“Not all of us want people hanging off our arms everywhere we go. I happen to like being invisible, thank you.” Arrietty’s voice was sharp as she glared at him. “I also happen to like my bubble.”

“Your bubble?” Leo asked, amusement and curiosity clear in his voice.

“Yes, my bubble. My bubble of personal space. Which you seem set on invading every chance you get.”

She actually seemed a little mad and Leo decided to change the topic. “Are you going to the back to school dance?”

She blinked at him or a moment, clearly caught off guard by the quick change the conversation had taken. But when she answered her sarcasm was back in full. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Leo smirked at her indifferent answer. “Come on, you wouldn’t skip the dance just because of me, would you?”

“For your information I’ve never gone to a school dance, so it wouldn’t be my first time sitting out. And not that it’s got anything to do with you, but I am going.” He didn’t need to know that she was going to help with food. Hopefully if she left it like this he’d stop bothering her about it.

Leo was a little perturbed at the idea of never going to a school dance. Some of his best memories from middle and high school were at dances. He figured her friends weren’t really the party type either though, so maybe she just never had anyone to go with.

“Then I guess I’ll have to make this the best night ever for you.”

“Hopefully by staying as far away from me as possible.”

“What kind of dress are you going to wear?”

“The kind that doesn’t concern you.”

“So, you’ll save me a dance?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Aw why not? I’m not that bad, am I?” Leo gave her a small pout. She just glared back at him, looking even more agitated than before.

“Not everyone wants to be the center of attention playboy. Why don’t you just go back to ignoring my existence?” The words had come off a bit sharper than she had intended but she wasn’t going to back down now.

Leo’s pout gradually turned into a frown. He felt a tiny pain in his chest, just like the last time she asked him to ignore her. He didn’t like how she seemed to think so little of herself when she was such a great person.

Slowly, Leo took one of his hands off the wall. Without thinking, he reached out towards her and gently cupped her cheek with his palm.

Arrietty froze the moment he touched her. Her eyes had gone wide and she froze completely in place. Leo’s frown deepened at her reaction. He barely even did anything, it’s like no one had ever touched her before. That thought made him sad, she deserved better.

Leo peered intently at her for what felt like forever before moving his hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

They stayed like that, staring at each other for a while before Leo closed his eyes.

“Sorry.” With that said he pulled back from her and walked away.

Arrietty didn’t move. She simply stood there and tried in vain to calm her thoughts.

Why had he done that, and why did he look so upset? It’s not like she had said anything hurtful about him. She had just asked him to leave her alone. Though admittedly a bit harsher than was probably called for. But that was no reason to react the way he did.

Absentmindedly she reached up her hand and pressed it against the cheek Leo had been holding only a moment before. She idly noticed that her heart was beating faster than normal. But she just chalked it up to him touching her and nothing more.

After taking a few moments to collect herself, Arrietty headed in the direction of her homeroom. There was still about ten minutes before class started but she didn’t want to chance being late.

Over in her homeroom Leo had been watching the door like a hawk. Completely ignoring the conversation his three friends where having behind him.

He finally tore his eyes away when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned his head back to see Louis giving him a concerned look. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

“No, it’s nothing.” Leo quickly brushed off his concern as he fully turned away from the door.

“Sure doesn’t seem like nothing. Seems to me like you’re looking for someone.” Nico had a cheeky smile as he leaned closer to Leo and whispered. “Maybe a certain mystery pitcher?”

“Isn’t she normally here by now?” Louis asked as he looked behind them to where her empty desk sat.

“Did you do something to her?” Alyn asked Leo accusingly. To which Leo replied with a smirk.

“Maybe. Why Alyn? Do you perhaps have a thing for her?” Leo had only been teasing but was shocked when instead of just ignoring him Alyn turned his face away. Leo could tell he was blushing even when he muttered a quiet “shut up.”

Leo forced himself to keep the frown off his face. For some reason the idea of her and Alyn becoming a thing bothered him. He turned to look back at the door and was slightly relieved when he saw Arrietty walk in. She didn’t even spare him a glance as she made her way back to her desk.

Leo watched her go the entire way and once she sat down he turned back to his friends. Nico was smiling at him, Louis was looking curiously between him and Arrietty, and Alyn was still looking away.

He just gave them a shrug before turning his attention to the front of the room where the teacher was writing announcements on the board.


	10. Back to School Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally the night of the Back to School Dance, but Leo can't find Arrietty anywhere.

The rest of the week had gone by in a flash and it was now Friday night. The night of the back to school dance. Arrietty had planned to show up early so she could help with set up. That didn’t exactly end up happening though.

Originally, Amy and Christina were going to show up early with her. But when she got to Amy’s apartment they were two hours into doing their hair and still not wearing their dresses. This hadn’t really come as a surprise, it always took them hours to get ready for these dances. Arrietty decided to go ahead without them, it’s not like they were going to be very helpful all dressed up anyway.

Since she wasn’t dressed up, Arrietty had decided to walk to school like she normally did. The parking lot was bound to be crowded tonight and she really didn’t feel like dealing with that.

When Arrietty got to the school she went in the front door to check in with the chair of the dance committee. The chair was the leader and coordinator of the whole event. One was chosen for each dance held by the school. It didn’t have to be the same person for each dance, but it typically was.

For the back to school dance the chair was Giles Christophe. Which made sense since he was a senior, on the student council, and not in a fall sport. He would likely be the chair for homecoming in a few months as well.

Arrietty found him and Sid talking to a few of the moms from the PTSA who had also volunteered to help. She walked up to them and one of the moms took notice of her immediately.

“Oh, you must be the student who will be helping us with food. I’m Ms. Amanda, nice to meet you.” She smiled politely. Arrietty gave a shy smile back and nodded her head. Just like any other time she didn’t want to draw attention, especially in front of the seniors.

Her little act seemed to work as Sid didn’t spare her another glance. Giles handed her a sign in sheet, but his eyes were narrowed at her. Once she took it from him he began to speak in a sharp voice. “If you’re going to volunteer then you should make the effort to be on time. I hope you’ll be more attentive in your responsibilities the rest of the evening.”

What a nub. It’s volunteer work and she was only five minutes late. It’s not like they had people lined up to help serve food. She wasn’t expecting him to praise her like a queen, but not acting like a stuck-up prick would have been nice.

She quickly wrote her name on the paper and handed it back. She didn’t bother giving a response to is comment, it wouldn’t have been kind anyway. It’s like people say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. She didn’t really care about being nice, but that philosophy also worked great for staying invisible.

“You’ll be helping Ms. Amanda. Please try not to get in her way.” Giles voice was condescending, but Arrietty just ignored it. She nodded at him before following Ms. Amanda towards the gym.

Once they were out of Giles earshot Ms. Amanda spoke. “That boy sure is strict for someone his age. Don’t let him get to you sweetie, we’re very grateful to have your help.”

You know you’re really stuck-up when even the moms are gossiping about it. Arrietty decided she liked this woman and returned her smile. “Thank you, I won’t.”

Ms. Amanda continued to fill Arrietty in on her job as they walked towards the gym. She would be in charge of prepping the food. It was already cooked but it needed to be unpacked and placed on platters. The decorations would also need to be put on the cupcakes. They were plastic flower rings in the school colors that had been order from a separate place than the bakery.

 

* * *

 

The back to school dances normally didn’t have a theme, so the gym was decorated in the school colors. The more iconic dances, like homecoming, spring fling, and prom, weren’t held in the gym. Since the back to school dance was a smaller event and landed in the same time frame as music auditions it was held there and not the concert hall.

It was almost time for the dance to start and students were gathering out front. Many girls were exchanging compliments about dresses. The dress code wasn’t very high for this event so most girls wore casual summer dresses, a few even wore pants and a blouse.

Leo and Nico arrived at the same time as Alyn, who had followed them in his own car. Louis had opted to stay home since he wasn’t very fond of school dances.

None of the boys were overly dressed, but they still looked nice. Alyn had on a red dress shirt with all the buttons but the top one done. Similarly, Nico had on a short sleeve white dress shirt and tan dress pants.

Leo’s outfit was similar to that which he normally wore to school. He had on a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and enough of the buttons undone to show off his chest. Over his shirt he had a dark red vest and a loose black tie that was tucked into his vest pocket. He also wore black dress pants and all his usual necklaces and piercings.

From the moment he stepped out of his red sports car Leo was surrounded by girls. It was the type of dance that only already existing couples went to together, so most people had gone with friends. Unfortunately for Leo, this meant all of his fan girls would be competing for his attention.

Nico, who had been sitting shot gun, snickered at Leo when some of the girls started pulling on his arms. Leo shot him a glare over the top of the car, but Nico just smiled back before heading towards the front doors where Alyn was waiting.

Leo refocused his attention on the girls currently holding his arms in a death grip. Usually it wasn’t hard for him to put on a charming smile and casually flirt with them. In fact, unlike his brother, it came quite naturally to him.

But right now, he found himself not really caring about them. His thoughts were overtaken with someone else. Leo knew he couldn’t do anything with the small army of admirers currently surrounding him. He decided to wait for an opening before slipping away to search for Arrietty.

Arrietty. Just the thought of her set his heart racing. Never mind the thought of her in a dress, with her hair down, red lips, and a shy smile.

He had never really questioned it before, but now that he thought about it her hair was always in a ponytail. It was also always tucked into her jacket, so Leo didn’t actually know how long her hair was. He was pretty sure she didn’t wear any makeup either. Though he assumed that was because she didn’t want to be noticed in the first place.

He was pulled out of his train of thought when one of the girls started tugging on his arm. He forced a smile on his face as she practically dragged him towards the entrance, talking about how romantic dances were as they went.

They stopped at a table set up in front of the gym to hand in their tickets. Leo noted with a sigh that there were more girls waiting by the gym door, and all of them were looking at him. When the girls that were currently clutching his arm noticed, an intense stare down began. You could practically see the sparks flying. Leo took the chance to slip from their grasp and move into the gym.

The ceiling lights in the gym were turned off. Spotlights scattered around the room were the only source of light. Leo saw Giles and went to say a quick hello. Giles, being the workaholic he was, was instructing the volunteers in charge of monitoring students. Leo had kept his greeting brief, not wanting to risk the girls realizing he had gotten away and catching up to him. Once that was done he went searching for Alyn and Nico.

Leo wasn’t the only one with admirers. His brother was quite popular, despite rudely brushing off each girl that tried to talk with him. Nico also had a small collection of devotees, but was far worse at telling them no. Not that Leo was really one to judge.

The trio was currently hiding in a corner of the gym, blocked from view by the bleachers. Leo, for the thousandth time that night, was scanning the room with a frown on his face.

“Somebody needs to get laid.” Nico whispered teasingly to Alyn as they watched Leo.

“Has it occurred to you that she probably lied just to get rid of you?” Alyn was getting fed up with his brother’s antics. Leo had been acting crazy all day. It had taken him almost two hours to get ready, during which he changed clothes about fifteen times. Each time he did he would ask for Alyn’s opinion until finally Alyn threatened to shave his head if he didn’t pick something.

To top it off Leo was now looking around like a lost puppy, trying to find a girl that probably wasn’t even here. Alyn couldn’t blame her, he didn’t want to be at this stupid dance either. He had only come because Nico had practically begged him to.

“She said she was going to be here.” Leo said, continuing to scan the gym.

“Come on Leo. There’s a hundred other girls here who wanna get with you. Just go make out with one of them.” Nico placed his hand on Leo’s shoulder and gave him a light shake.

“I’m not going to make out with some-“ Leo cut himself off and smirked as he stared across the gym.

“What? Did you find her?” Nico tried to follow Leo’s gaze, but he didn’t see Arrietty.

“No, but I found someone who knows where she is. Don’t wait up.” With that Leo disappeared into the crowd.

Nico turned to look at Alyn. “Can I ride home with you?”

Alyn gave a sigh before nodding. “Yeah.” He watched his brother move across the gym towards two girls he vaguely recognized from the diner.

“Good evening ladies.” Leo called out as he sauntered towards one of the drink tables where Amy, Christina, and Crow were chatting. Amy and Christina immediately went quiet when they saw him, but Crow smiled.

“Hello neighbor, is there something you needed?” Crow’s voice was knowing and a bit mocking. She probably already knew what Leo was going to ask but he didn’t really care so long as he got his answer.

“Arrietty told me she was going to be here, but I haven’t seen her. Do you know where she is?” He tried to keep his voice and posture casual despite his growing eagerness.

Amy gave him a confused look, but there was something off about it. “Arrietty? Attending a school social event?” The disbelief in her voice made Leo’s heart sink as he considered Alyn’s comment from earlier. Maybe she did lie to him?

“I know where she is.” Leo couldn’t help the hopeful expression on his face as he turned towards Crow. To his surprise she wore a devious smile and before continuing she looked down at the drinks table.

“Oh no, it seems like they’re out of diet coke out here. Would you do me a favor and get me one from the back?” She pointed towards a wood door behind where the food tables were set up. Leo figured the room was probably full of all the food and drink supplies for the dance.

He gave her a curious gaze, but something in her expression made him feel like he should just go along with this. “Sure, I’ll be right back.”

He moved behind the table and began to walk towards the supply room when Crow called out behind him. “Try not to have too much fun.”

Leo shot her a strange glance over his shoulder to which she just smirked back. He walked past two other helpers who were serving food to students, one of them turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re out of diet coke at the drink table.” He said to the woman politely.

She smiled back at him before looking towards the supply room. “There’s some more in the back, the girl in there should be able to help you.”

“The girl?” Leo’s eyes widened as he realized what Crow had been doing. He quickly thanked the woman before briskly walking the rest of the way to the supply room.

He got into the door way and stopped dead in his tracks. There sitting in a chair with her back to him was Arrietty. Her hair was in a pony tail like normal, but she wasn’t wearing her usual jacket. Instead she had on a gray wide strap tank top and he could see that her hair went most of the way down her back.

She had headphones on and was focused on something in front of her. Leo leaned back and looked around outside the room. When he was sure no one was looking he pulled the door shut and flipped the lock.

He carefully walked up behind her, keeping his movements as quiet as possible. When he was close enough to touch her, he could see she was placing sandwiches on plates. Leo quickly wrapped one arm around her shoulders and used his free hand to pluck the headphones off her head.

She jumped in surprise and Leo leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You shouldn’t let your guard down beautiful, cause I’m here to steal your heart.”


	11. Hiding in the Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo's found Arrietty alone and he's determined not to let this chance slip by. She's not so thrilled about his presence though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 100 hits already! I'm glad this story is so popular.

Arrietty, to her own surprise, had actually been having a pleasant time. She was working with three other moms from the PTSA on the food and drinks team. They were all very kind and Ms. Amanda had even agreed to give her the task of preparing food. This meant she wouldn’t have to serve food directly to students and could spend the evening in the back room. But the best part was that she didn’t have to dress up, which was great because the supply room felt like an oven.

Arrietty was wearing black jeans, a gray wide strap tank top, and her leather jacket. But after about thirty minutes of working in the sweltering room she was forced to take off her jacket before she melted.

Right now, she was grateful she had the incredible foresight to bring her headphones. They were wireless, so they didn’t get in the way as she moved around. No one else came into the back room either since she carried the food plates out to the tables when they were ready. Feeling confident no one would walk in on her, she began humming along to her music.

She had gotten absorbed into her work while listening to one of her favorite songs. For years to come she would be eternally grateful that it was orchestra music. She probably would have died of embarrassment if she had been singing when the next few moments played out.

Without warning, her headphones were pulled off her head and a strong arm wrapped around her chest from behind. She practically jumped out of her skin and probably would have fallen out of her chair if not for the arm holding her in place.

Before she could get her heart rate back to a healthy level she felt something warm brush over her ear, sending a shiver through her body.

“You shouldn’t let your guard down beautiful, cause I’m here to steal your heart.”

Leo. Fucking. Crawford. Her body went rigid in his grasp.

Once his words processed she felt the urge to smash her head into the table. Did his admirers really fall for ridiculous lines like that? What was wrong with the girls at this school.

Apparently, she had taken too long to respond because Leo started talking again. “We really need to find another game besides Hide-n-Seek.”

Her temporary shock dissipated, only to be replaced by a rapidly increasing annoyance. “Not use to doing the chasing playboy?”

Leo gave a small laugh as if to brush off her comment, his breath tickling her neck as he did. His voice was low and husky as he whispered into her ear. “I don’t mind when a girl plays hard to get. But the odds aren’t in my favor with that game, it’s impossible to find anyone as perfect as you.”

Alright, she had to give him props for that one. It was pretty smooth. Not that she would ever admit that verbally.

Arrietty slowly turned her head so she was looking at him. His deep red eyes were only a hand span away from hers and she could smell his cologne. He was wearing just the right amount and that sent really wasn’t helping her focus.

She tried to give him an unamused look as she replied sarcastically. “You’re absolutely right, which is why I don’t play hard to get. I play impossible to get.”

Leo’s eyes widened slightly, and she could see the amusement dancing in them. She was slowly starting to realize that her rejections had the opposite effect on him.

He set her headphones on the table and wrapped his now free arm around her. “Ah, the tough act. Don’t worry, I know exactly what you’re doing. Even if you don’t. I also know that deep down inside there’s a princess just waiting to be pampered.”

“Whatever.” She couldn’t come up with snappy comebacks with him holding her like this. If it wasn’t for the back of the chair between them he’d practically be hugging her to his chest. He was invading her bubble and she was not okay with that. “What’s with the princess line anyway?”

“I saw your screen saver.” Arrietty froze. He saw her screen saver, her Cinderella screen saver. She could feel her cheeks flushing. Curse her undying love of Disney movies. Leo noticed her flushed expression. “Aww don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s cute.”

“Shut it. Will you let go of me now?” She asked in a quiet voice as she turned away in an attempt to hide her bright red face.

To her astonishment, Leo actually let go of her. Though instead of leaving like she would have liked, he leaned back against the table. His eyes glanced across it at the platters she had been working on before he interrupted her. “Seems to me like this Cinderella needs to be saved by her prince. Why are you back here instead of out there with everyone else anyway?”

“That really doesn’t seem like it’s any of your business.” She replied challengingly. Leo didn’t rise to it though, instead his eyes roamed over her body.

“You’re not wearing a dress.” His voice was sulking, but she could see a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “Though it’s nice to see the beauty hiding under the rags for once.”

Suddenly very self-conscious of her revealed state, Arrietty grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. “It was hot in here.” She mumbled defensively. “Wait, did you just call my jacket a rag?”

Leo gave a nervous laugh and held up his hands in front of him in a surrendering gesture. “Ah, of course not. You look stunning in anything you wear.”

He caught a piece of her side bangs between his fingers. “I just think it’s a waste to keep such magnificent beauty hidden away.” He gently tucked the stray piece of hair behind her ear. “But on the other hand, I don’t like the idea of other guys looking at you.”

She swatted his hand away and rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. Where do you come up with all these lines anyway?”

Leo’s smile was gentle, but his eyes were completely serious as he gazed at her. “There not lines, I meant everything I said.”

“Uh huh.” The look on her face said she didn’t buy it. Before Leo could come up with a way to convince her of his honesty she spoke up again. “Well I know this may come as a surprise to someone who’s probably never worked a day in his life, but most people don’t get dressed up to serve food.”

“Wait.” Leo couldn’t hide the shock in his voice as he pointed at her accusingly. “You knew you were going to be back here doing this? But you said you were going to the dance!”

“And here I am. I said I was going to the dance, not that I was participating in it.” Leo folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her with a pout. He was kind of cute when he was pouting. Wait, what was she thinking?!

Arrietty tried to pull herself together, but then realized something. She felt her irritation growing as she looked up at him skeptically. “How did you know I was back here?”

Leo’s pout was replaced with an extremely self-satisfied expression. “I have my sources.”

There’s no way he happened to find her back here, someone must have told him. Arrietty glared up at him with an unamused look. “You need to stop talking to my friends.”

Leo’s smile turned taunting. “How else am I supposed to learn anything about my mysterious princess? She’s always hiding from me.”

“Can’t imagine why anyone would want to do that.” Arrietty muttered. She briefly considered the best method for getting rid of him. “Don’t you have fan girls out there? Wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.”

To her surprise Leo frowned at her. “I don’t want to be with them, I’d rather hang out with you. To them I may as well be an accessory for popularity.”

An awkward silence fell throughout the room. It had never occurred to Arrietty that Leo didn’t enjoy being swarmed by girls, he always seemed happy. But having girls practically throw themselves on you just because they think you’ll make them popular probably got old fast. Maybe he just wanted a reason to avoid them?

She decided to break the tense silence with some humor. “Yeah, I could totally see you as a purse. One covered in glitter with those zippers that don’t actually open.”

Leo’s eyes went wide. He stood there in shock, just blinking at her. Then, without warning, he burst out laughing

Arrietty reached up and shoved him on the arm. “Shut up! Someone is going to here you.” Leo didn’t stop though, instead he doubled over and continued laughing.

“Alright. Okay! You’re not a purse. But if you don’t want to entertain fan girls, then what do you want?” Her voice was slightly exasperated. She just wanted this to be over so she could get back to work. Leo stifled his laughter as he stood up straight again.

“I already told you, I’m your prince here to sweep you away to the ball.” Leo’s smile was back in full. He kept one hand on the table and set his other hand on the back of her chair as he leaned towards her. “You know, it'd be a lot easier for me to sweep you off your feet if you stood up.”

“I came here to work the dance, not be apart of it. Go find someone else to be your princess.” Arrietty turned away from him and started placing sandwiches on the platter again.

“No way.” His voice was defiant as he dragged the platter away from her.

“Excuse me?” Arrietty turned her head back towards him. But before she could demand he give her back the tray, Leo grabbed her wrists and pulled her to her feet.

“No way I’m letting you spend you’re first school dance, locked in a closet, organizing sandwiches.”

“What if I want to spend my first school dance that way?” She tried to pry her hands out of his grip with no success. “Why are you so damn strong?!”

Apparently, her comment had stroked his ego because he had a way too satisfied expression on his face as he started dragging her towards the door. “Come on, come dance with me.”

“Leo, I would rather shove forks in my eyes than dance out there.” He relented temporarily and loosened his grip on her wrists. Leo went quiet and the look on his face made it seem like he was thinking hard.

“Careful, you’ll hurt yourself.” She deadpanned.

Her insult didn’t have the effect she was anticipating though because suddenly Leo was smiling at her like an idiot. “Alright then, we’ll go somewhere else. Just the two of us.”

“Somewhere else?” She repeated in disbelief. Wasn’t he just hiding from his fan girls, why did he want to leave with her?

“Yeah, my cars out front. We can go anywhere you want.” Leo paused and leaned closer to her. “Or if you really want to stay in here I can think of a few other activities we could do.”

“Don’t you have a date or friends waiting for you?” Did he really want to drop everything just to go somewhere with her?

“Nope!” Leo popped the P as he gazed directly into her eyes. “I promised you the best night ever, and we’re going to have it. Even if I have to carry you out of here.” He sent her a flirty wink and she just glared back at him.

“First of all, that’s kidnapping. Second of all, I’m still working, and they need my help.” She pulled her arms out of his grip and turned away from him.

Leo stood there pouting at her back as she moved the platter that she had been working on back to its rightful place. Leo didn’t do anything for a few moments and Arrietty thought he was finally going to leave. Luck wasn’t on her side though as his face suddenly lit up. “Alright, then I’ll help you.”

“What?! No. Go away.” She rejected his offer immediately, not even bothering to spare him a glance as she did so. Did this guy ever give up? He was really starting to get on her nerves.

Leo ambled closer to her with an arrogant smile on his face. “Last time I checked you weren’t in charge of this dance. Which means I have the right to stay here and volunteer if I want to.”

She spun towards him, and Leo was instantly captivated by the fire in her eyes. “No you don’t. You never signed up so technically you can’t be back here at all.” She looked so enticing and radiant when she was angry, it made him want to provoke her even more.

“We’ll see. I’ll go ask Giles if I can volunteer right now.” He watched with open amusement as realization crossed her face.

“You… know him?” Now that she thought about it, Giles and Leo sat next to each other in their English class. She did not have a good feeling about this.

“We’ve been friends for years, even work together in the student council.” Leo gave her a cheeky smile and Arrietty could practically feel her chances of having a peaceful night disintegrating. She made a mental note to find and kill which ever one of her so called friends told him where she was.

She glared at him for a long moment before speaking in what she intended to be a very threatening voice. He just found it adorable though. “I hope you know how much I-“

“Love me?” Leo interjected.

“Hate you.” She continued, not stopping at his interruption.

“Temporary setback. I’ll be back in a minute gorgeous, try not to miss me too much while I’m gone.” With one last flirtatious wink, he was out the door. But not before he grabbing a diet coke out off the shelf. Arrietty sat down and laid her forehead on the table. She let out a long sigh, exhausted from the hurricane that just passed through her quiet closet. This was going to be a long night.


	12. Hard to Get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dance doesn't end how Leo hoped it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! Surprise!  
> For real though, I'm in my later years of college (Which is hell) so this story won't get much love until the semester ends. Plus the other game I play, World of Warcraft, had new stuff come out lately. So I've been busy with that.

Finding Giles and Sid would be easy. Giles normally spent dances at the entrance, watching for uninvited guests. Getting to them without being seen, would be another story. Before that though, Leo had a delivery to make. He ambled down the pathway behind the line of tables, towards the spot where Arrietty’s friend had been.

Leo was about two tables away when Crow noticed him. Her eyebrows creased in confusion as he approached, even more so when she saw the drink in his hand. “You didn’t actually have to bring be a drink.”

Leo threw on his classic charming smile as he handed the drink to her. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I left a beautiful lady like yourself waiting?”

Crow gave a short, unamused laugh. “As much as I appreciate you getting this for me, I’d much rather hear the juicy details.”

The corners of Leo’s lips turned up, giving his smile a mischievous edge. “Well, she tried to kick me out. But as a gentleman I can hardly leave her to do all that work alone. So, I figured I’ll just have to volunteer with her.”

“Persistent, huh? Good, Arrietty’s too damn stubborn for anything less.” Crow paused to jab her index finger at his chest. “But you better not mess this up, I know where you live.”

“You have my word, no funny business.” Leo gave her a mock bow.

“You know I’ve heard the stories about you and your reputation.” She paused to fix him with an intimidating glare. She knew he would be good for Arrietty, and he was definitely her type. But up to now Leo has always been a player. “For your sake I hope this isn’t just another one of your flings.”

“I’m not messing with her.” Leo seemed sincere but Crow still couldn’t shake her lingering concerns.

“I’ll support you for now, but if you even step an inch out of line I’ll castrate you.” Her tone alone was enough to tell Leo how serious she was. She stared Leo directly in the eyes for a moment before turning her head to the side. “You better go, wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

Leo gave a small nod before moving past her. He started for the entrance, keeping his eye out for Giles as he went. After a few minutes of stealthy avoiding admirers, Leo finally spotted him and Sid talking near the ticket table. Leo put on a casual atmosphere as he strolled up to Giles with his request.

“Giles! You look over worked.” Leo greeted, gaining the attention of the two other males. “Why don’t you let me help you with food preparation?”

“You want to help with food?” Giles looked over Leo dubiously. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the girl working that station would it?”

Leo just gave a causal shrug. “Who can say.” Giles gave him a disapproving look, which Leo returned with a smirk.

“Right. Please refrain from chasing off my volunteers.” Giles handed Leo the signup sheet with a warry glance.

“You don’t have to look so suspicious Giles.” Leo signed his name with an elegant cursive penmanship before handing the list back.

“Unfortunately, I do.” Giles expression was unimpressed. “Do try to conduct yourself in a respectable manner.”

“You’re actually working just to get with a high-strung wall flower?” Sid cut in with an amused scoff. “You could do better, especially location wise.”

“She’s not like that. And unlike you I don’t have to sleep with every girl I meet.” Leo snapped back.

Sid and Giles both went wide eyed. Sid’s teasing never got a rise out of Leo. Before they could ask about it, Leo turned on his heel and headed back the way he came.

Once Leo was out of earshot Sid spoke up. “That’s not like him.”

Giles made a small sound of agreement in the back of his throat. “You’re right. He doesn’t usually let things get to him that easily.”

“He actually looked mad for a second there.” Sid scratched at his chin thoughtfully as he watched Leo disappear into the storage room. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him go outta his way like this for a girl.”

Giles gave a small nod. “Indeed, he normally doesn’t get so attached. Perhaps he’s finally found someone worth getting serious over.”

Sid let out a short laugh. “He must have it bad for this chick.”

 

* * *

 

 

Leo opened the door the storage room and found Arrietty back in her seat from before. She turned when she heard the door open.

“You came back.” Her voice was full of disappointment and exasperation. Leo simply smiled back as he grabbed a chair from against the wall and pulled it next to where hers was.

“Of course, what kind of knight would I be if I left a damsel in distress?” Leo’s voice was teasing as he sat down next to her.

“You’re a knight now? I thought you were a prince.” Her tone was mocking as she focused on her work instead of looking at him.

“I’m whatever you need me to be.” He winked at her before scanning the table. The sandwiches from earlier were gone and she was now placing plastic rings on cupcakes.

“I need you to be a ghost, so you can disappear and leave me in peace.” Leo let out a small chuckle. She always came back swinging.

“Ouch, that hurt.” He gave her a mock pout, which she ignored. “Well now you’re stuck with me. So, what should I do first?”

“You should sit there quietly and do nothing.” Her reply came quick and short. Leo wasn’t about to be deterred that easily though.

“You know, if you don’t let me help I’ll just have to get creative.” He slid out of his chair and moved so he was standing behind her. She went stiff when she sensed his presence behind her. Leo placed his hands on both her shoulders and leaned in, so he was next to her ear. “Like massaging you’re shoulders or – “

“Okay fine! You can help!” She shrugged off his shoulders and leaned forward in a vain attempt to avoid his reach. “Geez, Is this really your idea of the best night ever?”

Leo made a small humming sound in the back of his throat. “I’ll just have to give you the best night ever at the next dance. That’ll give you something to look forward to.” He whispered suggestively into her ear and Arrietty swatted at his head. But Leo smoothly moved back out of her reach with a chuckle.

“Whatever, you can start putting rings onto the cupcakes in that box.” She pointed to a box on the shelf beside him. “Once they have a ring place them on one of these platters.”

“As you wish, princess.” Leo took the box off the shelf and placed it next to his chair. Arrietty moved the box a plastic ring so it sat between them on the table.

“Stop calling me that.” She shot him a warning glance that he just laughed off.

They worked in silence for a few moments before Leo’s eyes caught sight of her headphones on the table. He set down his cupcake and reached for them. “What kind of music do you listen to?”

“Gah!” She made a strangled noise as she noticed what he was doing. Quickly she tried to snatch her headphones back. Leo was faster though and placed them on his head before catching her hands in his.

“Classical music. Do you play an instrument?” He asked curiously. She tried to pull her hands away, but Leo just tangled their fingers together, strengthening his grasp on her.

“Are you always this nosey?” She shot back defensively.

“Only about you.” He wanted to pry more but she didn’t seem like she would budge. Instead Leo shifted the conversation in a different direction. “So, are these hooked up to your phone?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You must be good with phones then. Do you think you can fix mine?” The corner of Leo’s mouth turned up.

“What’s wrong with it?” She gave him a suspicious and slightly confused look.

“For some reason I don’t get your texts.” Leo returned her look with a smug one. She clearly didn’t find his line as amusing as he did though, as she glared back at him.

Arrietty remember the night she was in class. He must have been referring to when she didn’t respond to his message. He had asked her about it before, but she had dodged the topic. Somehow, she doubted the same trick would work again.

“I know this may come as a shock to you, but not everyone spends their life waiting for a text from you.” Her voice was fully a sarcasm as she continued. “As for your phone, I think it received my none existent messages just fine.”

“Is that so?” Leo was clearly amused by her snipe at him, much to her annoyance. “I guess I’ll just have to send enough messages for the both of us.”

She stared at him blankly for a few moments. “What does that even mean?”

“What indeed.” Arrietty just rolled her eyes at his flippant response.

“Can’t wait. Can I have my hands back now?” Leo released his hold on her with a sheepish grin. He scratched at the nape of his neck in embarrassment. It was sort of endearing.

Wait a second, what the hell?! That is not what she should be thinking.

“While we’re on the topic of unanswered questions. You said we had four classes together, but we only have three.” Leo lightly accused.

Was working quietly really so much to ask for? “You know this is borderline stalkery.”

Leo raised an eyebrow at her. “Says the girl who I met breaking into and stealing from my brother’s locker.”

“I was returning that key.” She shot back defensively.

“After you stole it. And used it to break into our team room. Again.” Leo pointed out with a taunting smirk.

“Just… decorate your cupcakes.

Leo decided to relent for a while and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence. Soon the cupcakes were done, and Leo picked up the last tray. “I’ll go give this to the others, try to miss me too much while I’m gone.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one.” She muttered as Leo left through the door.

She stared at the door once he was out of sight. Arrietty knew if she waited for him to come back he would drag her out there. There was still some time before the dance ended after all. So, before he could come back she gathered her things and slipped out of the room.

Arrietty felt a little bad for disappearing on him like this, he had helped her after all. But if she stayed she would just end up ruining the rest of his night as well. Deciding that her choice was for the best she continued to walk in to opposite direction that Leo went.

She paused at the last table to tell one of the volunteers that she finished and was going home now. The woman thanked her for her help and Arrietty slipped out of the gym.

She was about half way into her walk back home when her phone went off. She had a pretty good idea who it was without even checking. What she wasn’t expecting was the content of his message.

_‘I thought they were joking when they said they would kick you out for making all the other girls look bad. Maybe next time instead of a dance we should go for milkshakes?’_

Arrietty would be lying if she said she didn’t consider it. He was really starting to grow on her, but that’s what made him so popular. He could probably woo any girl, and he did. She wasn’t stupid, she knew what kind of reputation Leo had. She was just his current fascination, and once the mystery was gone he would move on to the next girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will probably have a bit of a time skip... I don't have enough ideas to do every day of the school year.


End file.
